


Worn Out Leather

by badartandbadfaith



Series: Be My Once in a Lifetime [1]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is So Done, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bruce Wayne Loves Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Selina Kyle is Catwoman, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badartandbadfaith/pseuds/badartandbadfaith
Summary: But thenA voiceA voice she had thought long dead, at least long dead to her“Selina?”Or: It's been ten years and Bruce Wayne is back.
Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Series: Be My Once in a Lifetime [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013961
Comments: 52
Kudos: 52





	1. Reunion of the Damned

**Author's Note:**

> Please be kind to me, this is my first ever fic.
> 
> I've been reading FanFiction for over ten years, starting with FanFiction.net and ending up here across several fandoms. 
> 
> Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne from the Gotham TV Series are the first characters to ever inspire a story from me.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts.
> 
> Title from Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (there may be a Spotify playlist I made for this story that I'll post later)
> 
> I do not own these characters.

****

_And every breath that I've been takin'_  
_Since you left feels like a waste on me_  
_I've been holding onto hope_  
_That you'll come back when you can find some peace_  
_'Cause every word that I've heard spoken_  
_Since you left feels like a hollow street_

_****_

Selina Kyle is grabbing a glass of champagne when it happens, a convenient excuse to get away from her date and case the room, eyes expertly and subtly picking up which pieces would be her focus for tonight’s job.

But then

_A voice_

A voice she had thought long dead, at least long dead to _her_

“Selina?”

She freezes, tenses, curses fate and the gods and finally herself.

“It’s me” he says earnestly, as she turns to face him, “Bruce” he clarifies, tacking on an uncomfortable “Wayne” as she continues to stare silently back at him.

“I know” she speaks finally “you haven’t changed _that_ much”  
And it’s true, but also a lie.  
And Selina doesn’t know what hurts worse, the ways in which he’d changed or all the ways he hadn’t.

He was broader now, finally filling out his skinny frame, and even taller than when she had last seen him, so she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes. But he still looked like _her_ Bruce, boyish and serious with intense eyes. She wonders how she’s changed in his eyes. Same cat like eyes and heart shaped face. But what of her tamed shoulder length waves? Or the slinky black satin dress she was wearing? Or the pain she hopes he can’t see in her eyes.

She watches as he swallows hard and seems to steel himself to speak- she wishes he wouldn’t. She wishes she hadn’t come to this stupid fucking _bird_ charity just to steal a few watches, a pearl necklace here, a ruby ring there. If she had just stayed home with Otto and her Ben and Jerry’s she wouldn’t be in this situation.

“I’m _so_ sorry” he begins, and then stops, struggles “you must think I’m a terrible person” he gets out, eyes looking at her and then quickly away, as though looking at her hurt.

She knew the feeling.

“I don’t think of you at all, Bruce” she corrects coldly, her indifferent expression a mask for the white-hot turmoil inside.

Selina sees the pain flash across his face and she hates it; hates _everything._

She hates that she spent _years_ trying to get over him, she hates how much she cried over him, hates that her attempts of moving on were always ruined by the thought of _him_. Mostly though, she hates that he could still affect her so much. She was goddamn fucking _Catwoman,_ she was as good as a goddess in the underworld. And Bruce _bloody_ Wayne was back and none of it mattered.

“It was good seeing you Bruce” Selina lies, cutting in before he had the chance to say something that would ruin her composure “but I must be getting back to my date, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you” she says, hoping he misses the catch in her voice.

He mutely watches her leave, and she can feel his gaze scorch her back as she walks away from him. She tells herself her skin is crawling, that she doesn’t shiver from the thought of it, of him.

_Mind on the prize Selina._

_****_

Bruce slumps down onto the well-loved couch and groans into his hands.

He had made a hasty retreat from the party as soon as he had lost sight of Selina, a mixture of embarrassment and pain nipping at his heels.

_I don’t think of you_

It was all he could focus on. He knew winning her back wouldn’t be easy, and he had thought she’d be mad at him- no, _furious_ \- but the cold indifference he had seen? That had felt like a swift jab right at his throat.

“Alright Master Bruce?” Alfred asks carefully from the doorway “how was the party?”

“Selina was there” is all Bruce can morosely get out between his fingers

“Miss Kyle?” Alfred says, surprise heavy in his voice “well that’s unexpected”

Bruce sags even further back into the couch, slinging his feet up onto the coffee table in front of him, earning a huff from Alfred in reproof. “Oh god, it was awful. I’ve been planning this for so long and it wasn’t supposed to go this way, I never thought we’d bump into each other at an event like _that_ ”.

His mind trips back to the charity event, he hadn’t even wanted to go himself, it was for a freaking endangered bird for god’s sake, when so many people in the Narrows still suffered so. But he had shown his face as the host was a previous friend of his fathers, and well, Alfred was worried about him (he got out of the house _plenty_ thankyouverymuch, maybe it was more crime fighting than champagne and canapes but it counted). He had never dreamt that Selina would want to go to something as pretentious and out of touch as that.

“Well go on then, tell me what happened?” Alfred asks persistently

Bruce recounts the night as painlessly as possible, “it was like we were strangers who may have known each other once a lifetime ago, she acted like I was nothing to her” he finishes painfully

“Well I’m sorry to say Master Bruce but you certainly didn’t leave it right did you? Abandoning her like that without a word in ten years, I don’t mind saying that I’m not surprised she’s moved on, are you?”

He knows its arrogant and childish, but he _is_ surprised. He hadn’t forgotten a single thing about her in all the time that he was gone, had thought about her constantly. She was an endless source of motivation for him. He thought that what they had was important enough to last, they had always come back together again, so why not now?

“I’ll just have to win her back” Bruce says whilst sitting up, not nearly as confident as he sounded

Alfred grimaces “Good luck to you sir, it may have been a long time since I’ve seen her, but I imagine Miss Kyle isn’t the type to swoon at flowers and chocolates any more than when you were teenagers”

“No of course not” Bruce says as he stands to pace, face thoughtful “she wouldn’t be my Selina if it was that simple, but I’ll wear her down eventually”

Alfred stands with a long sigh and a shake of his head, “you two, lord knows what sort of trouble I’ll be in if she ever takes you back sir”

But Bruce is no longer listening, already off in his own head. He’d made her fall in love with him once, and as a fumbling teenager too, he _surely_ could do it as a more confident man. No matter what it would be worth it, just the way she had looked tonight is enough to make his head spin, so damn gorgeous and refined, with an almost feral edge to her.

Bruce Wayne had a single-minded mission: recapture Selina Kyles heart.


	2. A Declaration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again!
> 
> Still angsty in this chapter, but next chapter may be a bit steamy...

_****  
  
Isn't it lovely, all alone?_ _  
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone  
Tear me to pieces, skin to bone  
Hello, welcome home_

_****_

It had been an unmitigated success; Selina had managed to swipe several expensive pieces from the party a few nights before and even now, was planning a bigger job for a client that should automatically lift her mood.

So why could nothing cheer her? She felt foggy and unlike herself, more like a different version of herself, a version she didn’t want to think about.

/////

_It was a joke, just a terribly cruel joke. She looked down at the letter once again, eyes skipping over the words without taking them in. It didn’t matter, she already knew what it said._

_Surely it was a joke._

_Bruce Wayne, joking? Her mind whispered to her. Even if he was going to play a joke on you, it would never be this horrible._

_She tried to quieten the awful words but her heart beat even harder and knew it to be true. She scrunched the letter up angrily, and then instantly tried to smooth it out, it was all she had left._

_She quickly turned and headed in the direction where she knew she’d find answers._

_“Bruce?” she called out, panic tinging her words as she swept her eyes across the study, hoping to find him sitting at the desk with mirth in his eyes, finally having pulled one over her. But everything is too still, too quiet. She feels water pool at her eyes and swallows hard, trying to blink it back, she would not cry over him._

_“Miss Kyle?” comes Alfred’s voice from the doorway_

_She looks up and sees him standing there. The pity in his eyes nearly breaks her, it’s all the answer she needs. But still, she can’t seem to help herself_

_“Alfred, please, where is he?” she chokes out_

_His eyes skitter away and she feels humiliated that he’s seen her like this_

_“I’m sorry Miss, but he’s left. I’m not sure when he’ll be back”_

_“Can I have his number, address, something?” she asks desperately_

_“I don’t have it” he says apologetically “he wanted to be left alone, I have no way of reaching him”_

_She feels it coming up and over and can’t stop it, hot tears speed silently down her face and she grips her hands into fists hard_

_“Oh, Miss Ky-” Alfred begins, worried_

_Selina spins away and out the window before she can hear the rest_

_And here she was, crying over Bruce fucking Wayne when she had sworn not to_

_Well, she thinks bitterly, he always made her break her own rules_

_/////_

Selina shoves the memory away. She was _not_ that girl anymore, vulnerable and alone, she was stronger now. Looking down at the newspaper in front of her ( _Wayne in a Billion, Son of Gotham Returns_ ) she shoves it away with a growl, everyone could fawn over him, but she knew the truth.

He was spineless, cruel.

Her mind goes back to the party and how hurt he’d been at her cold exterior; her heart clenches and she shoves away from the table.

 _Jesus Selina, get your shit together_ she thinks

She just needed to get out for a bit, her townhouse was making her claustrophobic. Grabbing her signature leather jacket and handbag Selina doesn’t wait a moment before locking her door and striding off down the street. With no set place in mind she’s able to aimlessly enjoy a stroll through the city, she grabs a coffee and wanders about, taking the time to appreciate the beauty that she normally ignores.

Eventually she feels settled enough that she loops back to her townhouse.

It’s a mistake.

Smack bang in front of her house is a car that automatically makes her heart race, threatening to tumble her down memory lane.

_Oh no._

She quickly hurries to her front door, hoping he’s fallen asleep at the wheel or hasn’t seen her or has had an aneurism (okay, maybe not _that_ ). But of course, inevitably she hears the car door open and shut. The steps slowly behind her, even his breathing. She shuts her eyes for a moment, key in the hole and takes a deep breath. She was Selina Kyle; she was strong and could handle _anything_.

Selina hears him cough behind her and is glad, because that one pretentious action brought the hot anger back to her veins, she spins on the spot and crosses her arms aggressively.

“What?” she grits out

He at least has the grace to look chagrined

“Hi, uh, Hello Selina. Can I come in to talk?”

“No” she answers quickly “how did you find me?”

His eyes flit away and she senses a betrayal “Jim _may_ have let it slip when I asked”

Great, she was going to have to _kill_ Jim

She lets out a huff, “what do you _want_ Bruce?”

“I really wish we could talk about this inside” he starts, but quickly stops, seeing the look in her eyes “but I wanted to say that I’m so-” is all he gets out before she interrupts him

“Didn’t we go over this the other night? I. Don’t. Care. Now please, leave me in peace”

She goes to unlock her door and leave him standing in the street but his hand grabs onto her arm, anchoring her in place.

The look Selina gives him would have withered a lesser man. He at least has the good sense to get his hands off her.

“Please” he begs desperately “just let me say what I want to say”

She cocks an eyebrow in assent, arms crossed firmly in front of herself

He heaves a breath and begins, “I wanted to apologise. What I did, the way I just left like that, it’s unforgivable I know. I wanted to take it back and come see you constantly”

“Then why didn’t you?” she asks quietly, refusing to meet his eyes

He drags a hand through his hair “I just couldn’t, I wasn’t ready. But I am now. I know it will take a lot for you to forgive me, but just know I will _never_ stop trying to win you back” he says earnestly

She stares at him silently for a long moment, and when she answers her voice is sad and finite

“It’s a waste of time, that part of me is long gone”

And before he can stop her, she’s locking the door in his face.


	3. BatCat Collide

_****  
You love when I fall apart _   
_So you can put me together_   
_And throw me against the wall_

_****_

Selina sauntered down the aisles, taking her time to appreciate all the glorious objects around her. Intricately carved vases and solemn statues stared back at her. She had timed everything right (which had never been in doubt) and had incapacitated the guards and security. She was free as a bird (or an alley cat) to enjoy this heist and maybe make note of what she could come back for another time.

_Hmmm, that vase would look **so** good in the living room_

Coming through a curved archway she spied the item she was really here for, a Burmese sapphire necklace created by Cartier that a client was going to pay her _very_ good money for.

 _Maybe I should take a little holiday with this payday_ she muses to herself, _go to Spain or Italy and find a handsome lover_. Selina carefully cuts a hole in the glass case that covers the necklace and delicately picks it up, holding it to her eye and devouring how the sapphire glittered. Normally she wasn’t a big fan of over the top jewellery (that was Barbara’s thing) but the way this necklace threw light grabbed her attention.

Before she has a chance to secure it into her backpack, a movement behind her reflected by the shining gem catches her unawares and she has a split second to spin away before the person towering behind her has a chance to grab her. Launching herself over the case and away from her pursuer she turns to face them and comes up short, a tiny bubble of laughter coming from her lips.

_Seriously? Only in Gotham_

There was a hulking shape of a man before her, decked out in- no kidding- a freaking _bat_ costume.

“You have got to be kidding me” she can’t help but gasp out with a laugh, and see’s him straighten up at the sound of her voice. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest idea to mock a man double her size who was clearly there to stop her, but hey, give her a break, this was a _bit_ of a shock.

“What?” he grunts out, clearly offended

Jesus, this whole situation was ridiculous

Selina strolls closer to him “Listen here Batboy” she starts, receiving an indignant huff from him “There is so much going on here I wouldn’t even know where to begin, but you must be new here. Some advice? Go back to the costume store and leave me alone”

“It’s Batman, actually” is all he says, his voice so clearly put out that she feels like he’s kicked her feet out from under her

She _knows_ that tone, he always sounded like that when she would tease him

She chokes out a gasp and takes an involuntary step back “Bruce?!” she asks incredulously, “what the actual _fuck_ are you doing? Ohmygod, you’re straight up _stalking_ me, aren’t you? What are you wearing?” at this she can’t help but let out another laugh, slightly hysterically

Not much threw her off, but her billionaire _asshole_ ex, standing in front of her in a _bat_ costume? Well, even Selina was feeling slightly taken aback

He grunts, sounding annoyed “Like you can talk Selina, you’re all dressed up too” he says

She watches as he seems to involuntarily sweep his eyes over her body, _twice_

Okay, so maybe her costume was a _little_ sexy, but that was the _point_ , idiots getting too distracted by her leather clad body was one of her favourite ways of getting out of sticky situations. It felt different when Bruce did it.

“So, Catwoman hey?” he asks as he takes a step towards her, making her automatically take another step back, her guard up “I should have known it was you” he steps forward again and her eyes narrow

They play a short game of cat and mouse until her back hits the wall behind her

“Nowhere to go now” he says, a shit eating grin appearing below his mask “just hand the necklace over Selina and everybody can go home happy”

“My client won’t be very happy” she says, angrily

Trust this stupid idiot to come and ruin her evening, _again_

“Your client isn’t my concern” he says as he steps forward again, far too close “Gotham Museum keeping all their possessions _is_ ”

She still has the necklace clutched in her glove, arm extended to the side of her, trying to keep it away from him. He moves forward again and she has to tip her head up to meet his eyes behind the mask

“Cute eye make-up” she taunts “Alfred put that on you?”

She sees his eyes narrow in frustration and her lips widen in a catlike smile. Suddenly his arm whips out from his side, going for the necklace in her hand. Just as quickly, her left knee comes up and blocks his arm, covering the prize in her hand. He growls in frustration and grabs her knee instead, pushing her back harder against the wall

“Stop playing Selina, just give me the necklace”

She swears he sounds out of breath

“I thought you liked it when I played, _Bruce_ ” her own breath coming up shorter than she would have liked

His hand grips her knee harder and he brings his other arm up above her, caging her in

“Not like this” he responds, voice gravelly

_Jesus, what was she doing? She hated Bruce_

_Right?_

“Careful there Batboy, I’m concerned you’ll break something if you get hard in pants that tight” she says against her will, her eyes pointedly going to his Kevlar suited legs

He gives her a slow sexy smile which makes her heart beat pick up

“I guess we’ll just have to find out” he says as he trails his face from below her ear, down her neck, to the curve of her shoulder. She shivers and lets out a small sound from her throat, instantly clamping her mouth shut. He brings his face back and just looks at her, his eyes blazing and slipping down to her lips

_Fucking hell_

She slowly brings her hand up to rest against his face tenderly, and sees his eyes go soft. In an instant she has her claws out and rakes them across the soft skin of his cheek, blood blooming in their wake. He hisses out a breath and loosens his grip slightly

_Perfect_

She shoves his arm back with her still raised knee and then uses the force of it to shove his big stupid body off hers. She quickly shimmers out of the space she’s made and leaps up for the metal bars above them, perching above all the security cameras she’d disabled, quickly placing the necklace inside her backpack. Bruce swiftly recovers and goes to follow her

“Selina, stop!”

“Sorry baby, guess you’ll have to get used to losing” she smirks before launching herself upwards towards the ceiling of skylights. Hanging onto the one she’d opened for herself earlier, she pulls herself through it and blows Bruce a kiss through the glass before swiftly running off into the dark.

****

Alfred was waiting for him when he pulled into the Batcave

“Alright mate?” he asks with concern, taking in Bruce’s dazed eyes and torn up cheek “what the bloody hell happened? Nasty cat burglar at the museum sir?”

He sits Bruce down and sets about fixing his cheek up with the first aid kit, Bruce can’t help but laugh at his words

“Oh yeah, a real _nasty_ cat burglar” he says, innuendo heavy in his voice

Alfred frowns as he wipes and bandages the cuts, raising his eyebrows at what Bruce says next

“Selina was there”

“Miss Kyle? Did the burglar hurt her? Why was she there?” Alfred asks, worry in his voice

Bruce laughs some more as they start to head toward the house “No Alfred, she _was_ the burglar. She’s Catwoman”

Bruce grins at the flabbergasted look on his face

“She? Catwoman? Honestly?”

“Yes, she gave me a hell of a fight”

Alfred looks at the claw marks he’d just patched up and the filthy grin on Bruce’s face and holds his hands up

“I don’t want to know. God help me, she’ll tear you to pieces if you aren’t careful sir”

Bruce smiles even wider “For once, I hope you’re right Alfred”

****

Selina is just finishing up her morning stretches when a knock at her door catches her off guard.

Grabbing a small throwing knife from the sideboard she goes to open it, surprised to see a man in fancy livery with a heavy velvet box in his hands.

“Are you Miss Selina Kyle?” he asks doubtfully, taking in her messy hair and gym clothes

“Yes” she says with narrowed eyes “who are you?”

“Robert ma’am, I have a delivery for you”

“I haven’t ordered anything” she says suspiciously.

(a lie, she has several new whips on the way, but she doubts they’d be delivered by someone like this)

“I believe it’s a gift ma’am” he says, proffering the box to her.

She takes the box reluctantly and watches with amusement as he tips his head to her in a small bow and swiftly makes his way through the rain back to the car.

Taking the box back to her dining table she sets it down carefully. Who would send her a gift? With her luck there would be a bomb or a severed hand inside. People didn’t care for being robbed, surprisingly.

She tentatively lifts the lid and stops in shock when she sees the thick white card lying atop some black satin. The letterhead clearly states _Cartier,_ the writing below it so familiar her chest hurts

_Cat,_

_Because now I know how you love sapphires_

_I’ll be seeing you, baby_

_B_

Lifting the black satin Selina is stunned, laying on a felt bed is a mind-blowingly beautiful set of sapphire earrings and matching necklace.

_Holy hell_

She had a feeling she’d set something in motion that would be hard to stop.


	4. Heartbreak Hotel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is going to be veerrrry angsty
> 
> Sorry folks! My girl needs to get some things off her chest.
> 
> There will be another batcat meeting next chapter...
> 
> [ Here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32K2XVQuSGiECZTK1ZSwwY) is the Spotify playlist I made for this story. It's what I listen to when I write!

_****  
_ _I don't care if you loved me, you make me numb  
'Cause you play me like a symphony  
Play me till your fingers bleed  
I'm your greatest masterpiece  
You ruin me_

_****_

“Holy shit” Barbara exclaimed when Selina opened the ridiculous jewellery box “that boy does _not_ mess around” she trails her fingers over the pieces reverently

“You keep them then” Selina says glumly. It had been a week since she had received the gift and she had been having trouble sleeping since then, the stupid box always staring at her. There had been no other word from Bruce.

“Nuh uh, I am so not getting in the middle of you two” Barbara says, glancing up at Selina “You look like shit by the way”

Selina cuts her eyes to her “thanks, it’s been a stressful two weeks”

Barbara moves to her kitchen and starts mixing them drinks. Selina might’ve argued that 11am was too early, but shit, she’d had a bad week

“So, billionaire boy is really back for good then, and he wants you” Barbara muses

Selina sighs and moves to sit on one of the bar stools “yeah, apparently”

“Do _you_ want him?” Barbara asks, unusually serious

“No” Selina replies automatically, seeing Barbara raise her eyebrows dubiously she groans into her palms “I don’t know”

“Well, I say fuck him” Barbara says savagely, pushing a gimlet to Selina and taking a long drink of her own

“Literally or metaphorically?” Selina asks with a laugh

“Metaphorically, well literally if you want, but _then_ metaphorically” she leans against the bench opposite from Selina and gives her a hard look “he treated you like shit, I know you may have been kids, but that only excuses so much Selina. I don’t need to tell you that you were a fucking mess after he left, no man should have that much power over you, you’re weak when he’s around”

Selina knew she was right, but it didn’t make it and less difficult to hear “so I should return the jewellery?” she asks sadly

Barbara snorts, “hell no. If he wants to feel guilty and buy you beautiful jewellery that’s on _him_ , you should wear it and ignore him just to fuck with him” she says with a calculated smile

Selina takes a long drink of her gimlet and laughs, “where’s mini B?” she asks, changing the subject

“She went to Jim’s yesterday for the night, said he had some surprise for her or something” she says with a slight sneer, but Selina knows it’s all an act. Barbara and Jim may have bad history but she knew Barbara appreciated how good of a dad he was to Barbara Lee.

“She should actually be home soon” Barbara adds, checking her watch “she’ll be happy to see you”

Selina sighs “I can’t believe you have a ten-year-old, I remember when she was just a tiny baby”

“Shut up, you’re making me feel ancient. You’ll be next you know” Barbara says, laughter in her eyes

“Me?” Selina scoffs “I doubt that, maybe in another universe”

“So, no future mini Wayne’s in the cards?” Barbara says jokingly

Selina rolls her eyes “He should be so lucky. But seriously, I think you were right earlier, I need to stop this whole- _thing_ – while I still can”

Before Barbara responds they hear laughter and feet running along the hall outside before the front door opens and Barbara Lee comes into the room like a mini tornado

“Hi mum!” she gushes before running over to Selina with a squeal “Auntie Sel!”

Selina gives her a tight hug “Hey kiddo, long time no see”

Barbara Lee runs to give her mum a hug before skittering off to the kitchen to grab a snack, trying to stuff her face and talk at the same time

“I had the best time at dads! He took me out for lunch at a really pretty café and then we went to the zoo and I got to meet uncle Bruce!”

Selina’s attention caught; she feels Barbara’s eyes on her while she stares intently at the chattering child

“He was _so_ nice, and handsome!” she added with a giggle “he knew _so_ many cool facts about the animals, _and_ he bought me a huge lion bear to keep at dads”

Barbara Lee comes over to lean against her mum with a smile on her face “he was asking me heaps about you Auntie Sel!”

“Like what?” Barbara asks her daughter suspiciously, running her hand over her golden hair

“Like how you are and if you ever talk about him or if you have a boyfriend” she says and Selina runs her hands over her face with a loud groan

“Jesus” Barbara says “rich, handsome, generous with gifts, good with kids _and_ using my kid for intel. You’d better watch out Selina, I doubt this one will play fair”

Young Barbara Lee just watched on with confusion as her mother laughed and her aunt sighed loudly. Adults were weird.

****

Selina caught a glimpse of herself in the wall of mirrors and smiled. Her dark hair tumbled in ‘Hollywood’ waves down one of her shoulders, the curling tips of her hair just brushing the neckline of her strapless gown. Silver satin that clung to her waist and then fell like a waterfall down her legs, a slit in the front to just above her knee for ease of movement and two deep hidden pockets for all her bounty. Finally the sapphire set that hung delicately from her ears and decorated her décolletage.

“… and then _I_ said, I don’t care how you do it, get back to work and make me _money_ ”

Selina caught the end of her dates sentence and gave him a fake tinkling laugh, batting her eyelashes like she actually cared. She guessed he was good looking objectively, a sharp jaw, tousled golden hair and a devilish smile. Hell, she would normally have taken him home after this, if he wasn’t such a pretentious asshole.

“Oh George” she giggled “You are so _bad_ ”

_Bat bat_ went her eyelids, starting to ache

He ate her praise up, chest puffing up and grin on his face. God, all these men were too easy. He hadn’t even noticed his wallet was gone. Idiot. Selina’s attention was distracted from what he was going to say next when there was a small commotion towards the front of the party

Her date wasn’t impressed “Just because he _owns_ Gotham, he thinks he can come to these things late and act like he doesn’t care”. Selina couldn’t see him yet but she felt her heart hit her stomach. She knew exactly who George was talking about. Sure enough, only a moment later, Bruce Wayne emerged from the crowds smiling and shaking hands, a pretty blonde following in his wake.

Selina kept her expression blank, taking the scene in. Eventually Bruce’s eyes made his way over to where they were standing and he did a double take. She took satisfaction out of seeing his face go pale and then red while his eyes went from her, to her date, to _his_ date and then back to her. And then to what she was wearing. Clearly, he hadn’t anticipated seeing her at the annual Gotham Heritage Gala. Well he couldn’t ruin this for her, this party was one of her favourite hunting grounds each year.

Much to Selina’s happiness and regret Bruce didn’t make his way over to them. Instead he was distracted by greeting an old friend of his parents and was dragged into a lengthy conversation.

“Shall we dance?” her date breathed into her ear, attempting to be sexy and falling flat

Selina smiled at him and agreed, dancing with this oaf beat watching Bruce and his Barbie girlfriend be treated like the crème de la crème of the event. Her date danced surprisingly well, moving her across the dancefloor without her having to subtly lead even once. The song they were dancing to was bland and looking at his face Selina realised that one of her favourite nights of the year had already been ruined.

_Fucking Bruce Wayne_

She smiled up at George and tried to pay attention to what he was saying, something about stocks and idiot employees. If she wasn’t careful, he’d bore her to death. As the song slowed down to a finish, she saw his eyes flicker to something over her shoulder and she had an awful premonition of who would be standing there

“George!” Bruce boomed “it’s so good to see you” he said as he jovially shook his hand. “Samantha here” Bruce indicated to his beautiful date, blonde hair pulled into a bun, body clad in a brilliant red gown “was just saying how long it’s been since she’s seen you! Shall we swap these lovely ladies for a dance hey?” Bruce said happily

_Shit_ Selina thought, _he knows I can’t refuse to dance with him without gaining attention from too many people_

George agreed happily -a bit too happily- as he gave Samantha a far too obvious once over.

_Ugh, such a creep_

Bruce was upon her before she could say anything, sweeping her away from the other two as the band started up a slow haunting rendition of _Hallelujah._

“I didn’t expect to see you here” Bruce said to her, eyes trying to seek hers out while she determinedly started just to the side of his face

“I’m working” she grits out “something Miss Universe over there probably doesn’t even know the definition of” she nodded towards George and Samantha’s dancing form

Bruce’s cheeks tinted pink “I barely even know her Selina, Alfred thought it’d look strange if I kept turning up to these things on my own…” he trails off as her eyes finally met his, laughter strong in her expression

“Oh my god, _Alfred_ chose your date? Bruce you’re a grown man” she openly laughs at him

“Well I thought that the person I really wanted to go with would have said no” he replies pointedly, causing her to quieten and look away from him again

“I see you liked your gift?” he asks, eyes travelling to the necklace “it looks beautiful on you”

“Don’t get any ideas. If you try to give me more gifts, I’ll send them back” she warns half heartedly

“sure” he agrees, grinning boyishly at her

Why was this so difficult? She was always so determined to ignore him or cut him down, shut down whatever he was trying to bring back. But whenever she was actually around him it was like her mouth started moving before her brain knew what was happening. Even her own body was disobeying her, pressing closer to him as they swayed.

“I got to meet Jim’s daughter” Bruce tells her proudly

“I know” she says “you took her to the zoo and probably spoilt her far too much”

Bruce looks at her warily “how’d you know that?”

“I was at Barbara’s when she got home” Selina said, looking at him shrewdly as he seemed to grow nervous

“What else did she uh say?” he asked

Selena grinned up at him “she did happen to mention that you were particularly interested in my boyfriend”

His eyes cut to her and then quickly to where George and Samantha were swaying “she said you didn’t _have_ a boyfriend!”

Selina couldn’t help but laugh again “god, don’t have a panic attack Bruce I’m just playing with you” his brow quirked up sexily at her phrasing and she felt herself blush “of course I don’t have a boyfriend” she says, as if it were obvious

“What do you mean of course?” he asked, frowning

Selina heard the swell of the music start to slow and knew she’d be free in a moment, taking a deep breath she says “I find it hard to trust these days, it’s easier to be alone than to have your heart broken”

His eyes stare intensely at her for a moment, regret and sadness in them. Before he has a chance to respond the song changes and she manages to untangle herself from his arms.

“Thank you for the dance, I must be off to powder my nose… or something” she says and then beats a hasty retreat to the ladies’ room.

****

Of course, the bathrooms in the ballroom are nicer than her damn townhouse. Honestly, they might even be bigger than her townhouse. Selina rests her arms against one of the sinks, staring at her face in the mirror.

She looks tired. Pale under her make-up with a sad drawn expression. Every meeting with Bruce exhausted her, it felt like she had to use every iota of energy and will power when he was around. To not cry, to not kiss him, to not slap him. To seem strong, fine.

She smooths down her hair and dress, pasting a pretty smile on her face. She still had a job to do. So far, she only had George’s wallet, a diamond bracelet and a pair of diamond cufflinks. She could do _much_ better than that.

Bringing her shoulders back and acting confident, she walks out of the bathroom. Staying along the back wall she tries to scope out the situation. No Bruce in sight, George and Samantha were on their third dance so at least he was distracted. She eyed at least three people in her vicinity who could use far less jewellery.

Before Selina has a chance to sashay towards them and distract them whilst robbing them, she hears a door next to her open and she’s pulled into a dark room. Her guard is up instantly and she kicks out at her attacker, hearing a pained “oof” when her leg makes contact with a knee. She hears him shuffling away and then light floods the room.

Selina stays in fighting stance for a moment as she takes in the situation. Across the room Bruce stands next to a light switch, hair looking ruffled and a rueful smile on his face as he bends to rub his knee

“Killer kick you’ve got there. My bad, probably should have known better than to drag you into a dark room” he’s smiling at her like they’re co-conspirators and she feels anger flood her

“You!” she hisses “Again! What do you _want_ Bruce?!”

He looks taken aback by her anger and holds his hands up “I just wanted to talk; you ran away so quickly before”

She straightens up and throws her hands up in frustration “Usually, if a woman runs away from you, you leave her alone” she tells him, speaking slowly as if he was stupid

“Selina, please” he says sadly “I just want to talk to you. You’re always shutting me out”

She stares at him incredulously “Bruce Wayne you idiotic arrogant _ass”_ she says, raising her voice slightly “you _left_ me! Jesus, the fucking entitlement! You left. And I moved on. And now you’re back and you act like I owe you something”

“No, you don’t owe me anything-” he begins, entreating her

“No, I don’t” she cuts him off, the anger drained from her “whatever we may have had was a lifetime ago, neither of us are the same person anymore. You need to understand that Bruce”

He comes closer to her, a heartbroken expression on his face as his hands settle on her arms

“Please” he whispers “give me another chance. I know I hurt you Selina, but we always come back to each other”

Selina knows that may have been true once. Back then they said and did so many things, hurt each other and healed each other and always, _always_ , coming together again like magnets. But then he didn’t come back. And she finally learnt the lesson years in the making; he was never hers to keep. Their worlds were too different, _they_ were too different. But it was too late, the damage to her heart had already been done.

She looks up at him. His sad intense eyes, his downturned mouth. She knew she needed to cut this off now, she couldn’t handle any more meetings like this. She silently pockets his wallet without him noticing (fair payback for ruining her evening) and hears words leaving her mouth without really even knowing what she was saying

“I’ve been hurt before; people always leave or die. My parents, my mother _twice_ , Ivy, Tabitha. I’ve been hit and kicked, stabbed and shot. But you” her voice breaks and her chest heaves with the effort of not simply falling to her knees to sob “my god, you _ruined_ me”

He looks like she’d just cut his heart out, but she has nothing left in her to care. As always, Bruce Wayne had robbed her of everything she had. She detangles from him and escapes the room, swiftly leaving the party as well. Not wanting to be alone she gives the cab driver Barbara’s address and sinks down in the seat, watching the city go by as tears slide down her face.


	5. Give and Take

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a big one folks, nearly 4k words of fun.
> 
> We have everything here, baby Bruce and Selina flash back, big dummy Bruce making a fool of himself and some batcat reunion. 
> 
> Plus this one is much less angsty, we're getting past the worst of it now.

_****  
So call me stupid, call me sad_ _  
You're the best I've ever had  
You're the worst I've ever had  
And that keeps fuckin' with my head_

_****_

Selina was awoken by the feeling of her face being poked and a crick in her neck, she was getting too old to be crashing on expensive (see: uncomfortable) couches.

“Why does your face look like that?” comes a voice right next to her face.

Selina cracks an eye open to find Barbara Lee sitting next to her and poking her face.

“That’s rude” Selina croaks, grabbing her jabbing finger.

“Sorry” Barbara Lee says, dragging out the word to indicate she wasn’t really “your face is all black, have you been crying?” she asks shrewdly.

Selina sits up with a groan and runs the back of her hand across her cheek, to find that -yes- mascara coated the back like an inky stain. She slowly stretches, hearing the muscles in her back pop. _Definitely too old to be pulling this stunt_ she decides.

“Who made you cry?” Asks Barbara Lee, standing with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. She was trying for menacing but honestly, it was just too cute.

“Barbara Lee Gordon” comes the sharp voice of her mother as she enters the room, crossing her arms.

“You had better not be annoying Selina at 7am on a Sunday”.

“I wasn’t mum!” Barbara Lee says, the picture of an angel “she was already awake, I swear!” she lied through her teeth.

Barbara tuts and nods her head to the other room “Go and have your shower you little minx, let me talk to auntie Selina”.

That sounded ominous.

Barbara Lee skipped off to the bathroom, far too easily persuaded. Barbara wanders over to Selina and sits down on the coffee table facing her.

“Been a long time since I’ve found you like _this_ on my couch” Barbara says.

“Don’t remind me” Selina says moodily.

Barbara is silent for a moment, taking in her beautiful dress, dishevelled appearance and tear stained face.

“Bruce Wayne” is all she says, not a question but a statement.

Selina nods, not meeting her eyes.

Barbara sighs “as always. Coffee?”.

At Selina’s assent she moves to the kitchen, messing around with the machine before handing Selina a steaming hot cup, “spill it” is all she says as she sips from her cup and gives Selina a long-measured look. Selina does, going over the whole mess of an evening and how she ended up at Barbara’s place. The whole situation makes her feel nauseous.

“I feel sick” she says as Barbara’s silence goes on for too long.

Barbara’s eyes narrow “are you pregnant?”.

Selina scoffs, and then laughs “ _please_ , you have to be sexually active for that”.

Barbara laughs and nods “true enough. So, what are we going to do about this?”.

“We?” Selina asks, cocking her brow.

“Yes, _we._ I’ve known you for 15 years Sel, you’re my little sister. If something hurts you then it hurts me too. So, what are we going to do?”.

Selina takes a long slow sip of her drink and then sighs “I have no idea. I hope he got the hint last night, but if he didn’t? Well I just don’t know. I’m so tired of feeling like this”.

Barbara tuts sympathetically “I know babe. Did you at least get a good haul last night?” she asks, trying to change the subject to something she knew would cheer Selina up.

Selina rolls her eyes and pulls out the items from her pockets “No, Bruce ruined my chances for that too. This is all I got”.

Barbara picks one of the wallets up and goes through it, throwing down about $300 in cash before flipping through the cards. She stills and makes a strange noise, making Selina look up from the diamond bracelet in concern.

“What?”.

“Did you by chance decide to rob Bruce?” Barbara says, a fond look on her face as she looks at two white squares in her hand.

“Yeah, so what? He deserved it” Selina responds defensively.

Barbara throws down what she was holding and then just stares at Selina expectantly. Selina drags them over to her and then flips them face up, for once completely speechless. Two polaroids stare back at her, a little faded from time and from obviously being looked at and touched often. But Selina recognises them instantly, making her feel a whirlwind of emotions at once.

Sick, happy, sad, surprised, regretful.

////

_“What have you got there?” Selina asks playfully. She’s laying back on the sofa in Bruce and Alfred’s apartment in the green zone, feet up on the armrest and one arm behind her head._

_“It’s an old polaroid camera I found just inside the dark zone” Bruce says, shaking it a little “I’m pretty sure it still works” he says with a cheeky grin, holding it up and swiftly taking a snap of her on the couch._

_“Hey!” she objects, laughing and lunging for the camera as the shot slowly ejects from the top. Selina scrutinises the photo. It’s actually not bad. Her mess of curls is spread out like a halo around her face, her cheeks are slightly flushed and she has a half cat like smile on her face. The soft look in her eyes directed at the photographer makes Selina blush, how **obvious** could she be. Bruce leans over her shoulder to take a look and the feel of him **right there** makes her shiver._

_“I like it” he says “can I keep it?”._

_Selina turns her head slightly to catch a glimpse of him “and what do I get if you do?” she asks jokingly. He brings his arm up with the camera still in his hand and snaps another picture, smiling at her._

_“I’ll let you keep this one” he says, looking at her intently._

_She pulls the second photo out of the camera and they look at it quietly. Selina, eyes looking towards Bruce as he leans his head over her shoulder and stares back at her. They both look so… loving. Selina can hardly breathe._

_“We look good together” Bruce whispers to her and she can’t help but drop the pictures and turn to kiss him. He drover her fucking insane 70% of the time, but the other 30? He could be so sweet it shook her to her core._

_He kissed her hard, like it could be the last time. Which, with the way Gotham was going, might not be far from the truth. Everything always felt like the last time these days. He pulls her tighter against him and kisses down her neck, pushing her leather jacket off when it gets in his way. Selina grips his back hard and sighs, tiling her head back._

**_Jesus, he might let me get past second base this time_ ** _she thinks._

_He kisses her mouth again and right when she thinks he’ll **actually** let go and push her down onto the sofa, an insistent knocking at the door makes them pause._

_“Master Bruce?” Alfred calls, trying the door handle “let me in”._

_They rest their foreheads together and Selina chuckles, breathing heavily._

_“If we stay quiet maybe he’ll leave” she whispers._

_“Sir” Alfred calls once again “I know you’re in there, you were seen heading in with Miss Kyle. Now please untangle yourselves. I’m not going anywhere and Jim needs you, it’s urgent”. Selina blushes._

**_Interfering old man._ **

_Bruce sighs and takes a step back from her, running a hand through his already messy hair._

_“Raincheck?” he asks with a sweet smile._

_Selina nods and picks up the pictures she had dropped, handing them to him with a fond look on her face._

_“Here ya go, keep these to remind you what you’re missing” she says with a wink._

_Bruce turns pink to her delight and quickly drops a kiss to her cheek, turning and heading to the door._

_Selina turned away from him, watching the sunlight dance on the floorboards. She always hated watching him leave._

_////_

Selina feels her breath catch. She’d forgotten about these pictures. She could hardly believe how _young_ she looked. And happy. Seeing Bruce hurt even more. This was _her_ Bruce, sweet and serious and always, _always_ , there. This new older Bruce only ever reminded her of what she had lost.

She feels Barbara’s eyes on her and gently places the pictures back down on the counter, not being able to take her eyes off of them.

“Oh sister” Barbara says with a sad sigh “you’ve got it _bad_ ”.

_****_   
  


Bruce is pretty sure he’s supposed to be reading the papers in front of him. They’re definitely some sort of report from a project being run by Wayne Enterprises. But all the words blur together before him as he once again zones out and thinks back to when he last saw Selina. The look on her face before she had fled the room haunts him.

“Master Bruce?” comes Alfred’s voice from the door, his tone evident that it hadn’t been the first time.

“Sorry Alfred, these reports have me distracted” Bruce says lamely, knowing full well that Alfred would see through him.

“Of course, sir” Alfred says kindly “Jim Gordon is here with little Miss Barbara Lee”.

Bruce heaves himself up from behind the desk and starts walking with Alfred towards the front of the house, happy for the interruption from his thoughts. As they turn the corner Jim and Barbara Lee come into view. Jim smiles and shakes Bruce’s hand, thanking him profusely for looking after Barbara Lee for a few hours while he and Lee go visit her sick mother.

“It’s really no problem Jim, we’re going to have a great time” he smiles down to Barbara Lee and is surprised to see her staring stonily back at him, arms crossed defiantly.

“She’s in a bit of a mood today” Jim tells him conspiratorially before saying his goodbyes and rushing back out the door.

“Well little miss, what would you like to do first?” Bruce asks “we have lunch or boardgames or that Frozen film you enjoy so much?”.

Barbara Lee stares glumly down to her feet and mumbles out “lunch” before beginning to march off with Alfred towards the kitchen, Bruce hurrying to keep up.

Bruce sits next to the girl at the kitchen bench and casts his eye towards her as Alfred begins on some sandwiches.

“Have I offended you somehow Barbara Lee?” Bruce asks the usually bubbly girl solemnly.

“Yes” she says abruptly, shooting him a cold glare.

Bruce is taken aback, had he forgotten her birthday somehow? Or a promise he had made to her? Apparently, he just had a special affinity for pissing off the female species.

“Could you please let me know what I’ve done to upset you so I can fix it?” He asks.

She looks back at him angrily tears glittering in her eyes “you made my Aunt Selina _cry_!” she says fiercely. Alfred tuts sympathetically as he places their sandwiches down, shooting Bruce a pointed look.

“Cry?” Bruce says “when did I make her cry?”.

“Last weekend was my time at mums and when I woke up on Sunday, I found Auntie Sel asleep on the couch in the _prettiest_ dress and her face was all black and streaky and she looked _sad”_ Barbara Lee explains around mouthfuls of sandwich.

Bruce nods at her to continue.

“And then mum got up and made me go have a shower but I really just went into the bathroom and listened at the door” she explains proudly “and then Auntie Sel was talking about _you_ and you made her _cry_! A lot!”.

Bruce feels thoroughly told off, and guilty. Seeing Selina cry was awful, but being the reason for her crying? Bruce was devastated.

“What else did she say?” he asks Barbara Lee sadly.

“I didn’t get to hear much more because I had to turn the shower on to make it seem legit and it’s _loud_ but I think Auntie Sel is having a baby” she says simply.

Bruce is completely floored. Even Alfred stops what he’s doing to turn and stare at them.

“What?!” Bruce says.

“I dunno” Barbara Lee says “Mum was saying something about pregnant and then Auntie Sel said something about being sexually active and then I thought I heard mum coming to check on me so I had to stop listening and actually shower” Barbara lee says. “How are babies made?” she asks, turning to him with big eyes.

Bruce chokes out a cough and stares at Alfred desperately, Alfred throws his hands up and steps back.

“W-well, uh, when a mum and dad-” he begins before Barbara Lee starts laughing at him.

“I’m only kidding Uncle Bruce, I know how babies are made, I’m _ten_ ”.

He lets out a long breath and chuckles weakly, that had been close. Barbara Lee finishes her sandwich and goes for a toilet break before they go to watch the movie. Before she gets back Alfred pulls him aside.

“Master Bruce you didn’t…?” he says, trailing off.

“No!” Bruce says in a panic, though Alfred doesn’t look very upset at the idea “Jesus, I’ve got to talk to her” he says, distracted.

“What will you do?” Alfred asks.

“Well obviously nothing has changed for me” Bruce says “I’ll just have to convince her to fall back in love with me, move into the manor and let me help rase the baby” he says confidently.

“Is that all?” Alfred says dryly.

Bruce doesn’t appreciate the sarcasm, he knows he’s fighting a losing battle.

“Yes, Alfred that’s all, now I have to go see her!”

Alfred stares pointedly at Barbara Lee loping towards them and says “Not today you won’t be, you have young miss until 7pm and then you’re on patrol tonight sir, surely it can’t wait until tomorrow”.

Bruce agrees and sighs, he’d talk to her tomorrow.

_****_

Selina stealthily leaps onto the roof of the building in front of her. She stops a moment to take a breath and look out at the skyline of the city. Her job had gone off without a hitch, the 5th century obsidian dagger she had stolen safely stashed away. She breathed in the semi-smoggy air of Gotham and leant against the ledge with a smile. All is still and silent in the sleeping city, but she still feels his presence behind her as he leaps onto the building. With a sigh, Selina pushes off from the ledge and turns to face him in all his Batsuit glory.

“You again” she says, not unkindly.

He stares back at her for a long moment “That wasn’t perchance you robbing the Ancient History Museum was it?” He asks.

Selina smiles at him coyly “I have no idea what you’re talking about”.

He sighs but doesn’t pursue it, to her surprise. “Should you really be robbing museums and running across buildings in your condition?” he asks seriously.

She stares blankly back at him for a moment before asking “were you hit on your head tonight?”.

He takes a step towards her, “well, yes actually. But that’s beside the point. All of this activity can’t be good for you” he says entreatingly.

Selina thinks he must have been hit harder than he knew. “What are you _talking_ about Bruce?”.

“You _know_ what I’m talking about” he says, frustrated. “Barbara Lee told me everything! And look, I know you value your independence and you want nothing to do with me but I can _help_!” he says, semi-desperately.

“Barbara Lee told you _what_?” she asks, confused and suspicious.

“About the baby! Who’s the father? Is it George? Or someone from the underworld? You know what, I don’t even care. I still love you Selina and I’ll love this baby too and you can move into the manor, we can even live in separate wings if you want. A sort of marriage blanc if you will! Alfred can help, he _loves_ babies. _Please_.” Bruce says in a breathless rush, hands reaching out to her in desperation.

Selina feels dizzy. “ _What_?!” she says, much louder than she had intended. She lets out a semi hysterical laugh. “Baby? The manor? _Alfred_?!” she sounds slightly unhinged, feels it too. “What in the _world_ , Bruce I am not _pregnant!_ ”.

Now he’s the one that looks confused “but… today Barbara Lee said she heard you talking to Barbara about it last weekend”.

“Jesus Bruce, you need to stop talking about me to a ten-year-old! Let me say it as plainly as possible, I. Am. _Not_. Pregnant. Nor do I intend to be any time soon”.

“Oh” he says, deflating and sounding embarrassed.

Selina lets out a little giggle and saunters closer to him. “Were you really going to raise my illegitimate underworld love child with me?” she asks with a laugh.

“Of course” he says, defensively.

Her cheeks feel warm and she doesn’t know how to process that information. She fishes out his wallet from her backpack. “Here” she says, pushing it towards him “I think you misplaced this”.

He takes the wallet and she can see the surprise in his eyes. “Were you just carrying this around hoping to see me?” he asks sounding hopeful.

Selina shrugs, “I figured you’d take up stalking me again eventually”.

He flips it open and smiles “Seems I’m a couple hundred short”.

“You invested in some _very_ pretty clothes for me. And a fancy cat bed for Otto.” She says playfully.

“Wise choices” he hums “you know you just have to ask and I’ll get you whatever you want”.

She moves closer to him, only a few feet away now. “It’s _far_ more fun taking it from you” she says.

She sees him quickly glance around where they were, assessing the safety of the situation before taking off his cowl. His pale face is revealed to her, dark black smudges standing out around his eyes. He stares back at her intently and she sighs, removing her own cowl. He moves closer to her and smooths back a piece of hair that had escaped its binding. She sighs softly and looks up at him, feeling powerless to his pull.

“I’m sorry my returning has hurt you so much” he says to her quietly “If you want I can” he swallows hard “I can go again; you’d never need to see me again”. She sees the effort it takes for him to say it and feels a lump in her throat.

She shakes her head. “Seeing you hurts, but never seeing you again would hurt more” she says softly.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispers.

Selina surges up in response, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her back slow and sweet. She kisses him ever harder, wanting to press as close as possible until it hurts. He makes a sound in the back of his throat and grabs her around the back of her knees, hoisting her up until she could wrap them around his waist. He kisses her desperately, his grip on her legs hard. Kissing down her throat as her hands scrabble into his hair, pulling it hard while she quietly moans out his name, clenching her legs around him harder.

“Jesus” he gasps out at the base of her throat “this was definitely worth the wait” he says dreamily.

“What?” Selina laughs out breathily.

“N-nothing” he stutters, the tips of his ears going pink.

She pulls his head away and looks at him, “Do you mean…?” she asks, shocked.

He sighs and puts her down, running his hand through his messy hair. Refusing to meet her eyes. “Yes. It’s been a very ah, celibate decade” he says, embarrassed.

Selina lets out a shocked laugh “ _ten years_?! But you’re Bruce Wayne” she says, disbelievingly.

“Where I was, it wasn’t exactly… romance friendly” he says uncomfortably.

Selina slaps a hand over mouth to try and stop a giggle from escaping “but you and I never… so that must mean it’s been since…”.

He cringes, “yes, billionaire brat Bruce”.

“But that was, what? Eleven, nearly twelve years ago? Shit, I think that makes you an honorary virgin again” she can’t help laughing, even as his face gets redder. 

“Oh god, I’m sorry” she says, feeling bad “I’m just surprised is all. I feel like I’m corrupting you” she says cheekily.

He steps closer to her again, his hand going to the curve of her waist. “I doubt it” he says, his voice low “I don’t think you could do anything to me that I haven’t imagined doing to you for the past decade”.

She feels slightly lightheaded, heat shooting through her at his words. “Like what?” she whispers.

He leans down to whisper in her ear, “I’m having a homecoming ball on Friday at the manor, if you come maybe I’ll show you”.

She shoves at his chest with a laugh, “You are _such_ a tease Bruce Wayne”.

She turns from him and walks over to the ledge of the building, hopping up gracefully.

“Will you come?” he calls to her.

She sends a smile to him over her shoulder, calling out “if you’re lucky!” before leaping off the building.

_****_

Back at the manor, Bruce opens his wallet once more. Digging in behind a credit card and a loyalty card for Starbucks he finds what he’s looking for.

Pulling out the polaroid of Selina he smiles fondly at it, rubbing his thumb over her face. Pulling everything else out of his wallet he has a realisation.

She kept the other photo.


	6. One Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can't believe I've just dedicated 3.5k words to these two boning, but here we are.
> 
> I've literally never written smut in my life and heavily agonised over this so I hope it lives up to your standards!
> 
> A nice little break in all the angst but we're not out of the woods completely yet folks....

****  
Can't keep my hands to myself  
No matter how hard I'm trying to  
I want you all to myself

_****_

  
“Oh my god” Barbara says, staring at the racks of lingerie in front of them “you’re going to fuck Bruce Wayne!”

Selina’s cheeks flood with colour “Could you be quiet! I am not!” she says, tacking on an uncertain “probably”.

“When you asked me to help you buy an outfit for his homecoming thing, I thought you meant like a fuck you dress, not fuck _me_ lingerie!”.

“Barbara” Selina says, pained “Please lower your voice, I think Bruce heard you screeching that all the way from the fucking mainland! And I do need help picking a dress. I’m just… covering all my bases”.

“Hah, yeah, I bet you hope _he_ covers all bases” Barbara says filthily and Selina reconsiders every decision she ever made to get to this moment. Barbara moves away from her and starts flicking through the racks quickly.

“What are you thinking then? Red? Black? Maybe Purple? What does he like?” She asks, holding up a pink and red heart sequined set that had Selina pulling a face.

She feels ridiculous as she responds “I have no idea. Jesus, I’ve never bought lingerie with anyone but myself in mind”.

“What do you mean you don’t know? I thought you guys were, you know” Barbara wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and makes a crude gesture with her hands “back in the day”.

“God, no” Selina says, trying to concentrate on the thin wisps of lace in her hands “we never got that far”.

“Huh” Barbara says, surprised “I owe Tabitha’s grave $100”.

Selina shoots her a withering look “You guys bet on my teenage sex life?”.

“Well, anything sounds bad when you use _that_ tone” Barbara says haughtily.

She holds up a white lace body suit for Selina’s consideration “No way, too bridal”.

“True” Barbara says, putting it back “we’re going for mistress, not wife”.

Selina secretly wishes the floor would open beneath her. Barbara always tried to get the juicy details of her sex life out of her (with little success, Selina didn’t kiss and tell), but now she’d basically invited her into the bedroom with them and sincerely regretted it.

“How about this?” Barbara asks, holding up an intimidating leather set with _so many_ buckles.

Selina shakes her head “I’m going as myself, not Catwoman”.

“Right” Barbara says, throwing her a smirk “you can save that for next time”.

Selina sighs, walking away from Barbara into a different section, flicking through all the sets. Stopping at one she pulls [it](https://www.agentprovocateur.com/int_en/rozlyn-full-brief-1473) out to scrutinise. Red mesh and lace formed panels in the balconette style strapless bra, while the bottoms weren’t too tiny, lace framing the hips at the back and then opening onto a completely bare panel.

“Your butt would look _insane_ in that” comes Barbara’s voice from behind her.

“Do you think?” Selina asks “it’s not too simple is it?”.

“Hell no, you don’t want him to think you put _too_ much effort in” Barbara says with a grin. She looks down at her watch and says “Do you want to head upstairs and look at dresses?”. Selina assents and purchases the red set in her size. The two make their way up the store to the women’s section and happily get lost in tulle and satin and lace. Selina tries on half a dozen dresses, she’s happy with several of them but Barbara keeps on sending her back with a firm “No”.

Selina comes out in her seventh [dress](https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-us/shop/product/brandon-maxwell/cutout-draped-silk-satin-gown/1287808) and is happy to hear silence from her friend for once. Turning to look at herself in the mirror, she admires the dress. A black elegant silk satin gown, with a draped bodice and a small cut-out coming from the side, right under her right breast, showing the tiniest peek of red lace. It has a slightly figure-hugging silhouette with a floor length hem and a dramatic slit up the side to her upper thigh.

Barbara lets out a resolute “yes”.

“It’s not too trashy for an elegant party is it?” Selina asks, touching the spot that you could see the end of her red bra.

“No way” Barbara responds confidently “he’ll be salivating over you”.

Selina blushes at the thought “I don’t even know if anything will happen” she says anxiously “I still haven’t forgiven him for leaving” she says sadly.

“Babe” Barbara begins “you don’t have to marry the guy. Go to the party, have some fun, don’t work for once. If you fuck him, great, you can decide how you feel about it later. If you don’t, well, I’ll probably kill you” she ends, dead serious.

Selina huffs out a laugh and fingers the satin of the skirt “I don’t think I’ve ever been to one of these things without working”.

“ _Exactly._ You’re only 28 kid, you need to have more fun”.

Selina smiles at the thought. She could have fun. Probably.

****

Selina is a ball of anxiety as she stands outside of Wayne manor, her cab pulling away. Music and light and laughter drains from the house to her ears and she has to take a deep breath before entering, smoothing down her dress.

She was late, but that couldn’t be helped. She nearly hadn’t come at all.

When she enters the house all she can hear is noise, the tinkling of the band’s music, the low hum of hundreds of conversations. She comes up short and nearly decides to leave right in that moment before she’s seen by someone entering the hallway.

“Miss Kyle!” Alfred says happily, leaning on his cane as he strides towards her.

Selina’s guards go up and she feels uncomfortable, remembering the last time she had seen him and how she had run out the room crying.

_How embarrassing._

“Alfred, hello” she says carefully.

“Don’t you look lovely tonight” he says kindly “would you like me to find Master Bruce?” he asks.

“No” Selina says abruptly, and then glances away when she sees his eyebrows shoot up “Uh, don’t disturb him. I’m sure I’ll see him later” she says.

“Well enough” Alfred says evenly “most of the guests are gathered in the ballroom just down the hall, I’m sure you remember the way”.

She nods gratefully and sends him a tight smile before heading towards where he had indicated.

Entering the ballroom Selina feels very small indeed. It’s heaving with glamorously dressed people and the noise from earlier has tripled. Weaving her way through the masses, Selina tries to catch sight of somebody- _anybody_ \- that she knew. Sure, she recognised many of the faces (had stolen from most of them) but she didn’t feel up to making conversation with stuck up strangers.

Selina gratefully grabs a glass of champagne as a server silently patrols the crowds and downs it far too quickly.

She feels the familiar scorching of eyes on her back, but before she can turn to lock eyes with him, a voice comes from her side.

“Well, hello there”

Turning slightly to face the speaker, Selina recognises Tommy Elliot. She tries to not pull a face, he was certainly handsome, but incredibly sleazy.

“I’m sure I recognise you from somewhere” he says thoughtfully.

“I was at the Heritage Gala the other week?” Selina supplies helpfully.

“No” he says, drawing the word out and giving her a very obvious once over “I’m certain I’ve seen you in my bed later tonight” he says with a filthy grin.

Selina just stares at him for a moment, did he actually think that line would work?

“I _highly_ doubt it” Selina says with a small sneer.

She turns to leave but he stops her by forcefully grabbing her wrist.

“Hey! Wait!” he scrambles.

The fucking _audacity_.

Selina turns to give him a very specific and detailed piece of her mind when a voice comes from behind her that makes her freeze up.

“Tommy” Bruce says, reproof heavy in his voice.

Tommy releases her wrist and gives Bruce a strong smile, “Bruce buddy! Hey! It’s been too long, I’m so glad you’re back. Great party man”.

Bruce gives him a dismissive nod and turns to Selina instead, completely ignoring Tommy’s existence. She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t hot.

“Hello” he says lowly, dragging his eyes down her and then quickly back up, his face flushing pink when he’s caught. “You look lovely” he says, unable to stop himself from looking her over again, eyes constantly snagging on the strip of pale flesh and red lace.

“You look adequate” she replies cheekily, feigning checking his expensive suit out.

He chuckles and looks away from her nervously, swallowing hard.

“What does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?” she asks him flirtily.

“Oh, uh” he stutters, eyes skittering back to her “nothing. Unless you wanted…” he stops himself, face fully flushed pink as he flags a waiter down.

“What can I get for you Mr. Wayne?” the server asks, her eyes a little wide as she stares at him.

“Please bring whatever Miss Kyle would like, she gets whatever she wants”.

Selina orders herself a martini and cuts him a look from under her lashes, silent as he stares back at her. The electricity in the air is magnified by the fluttering in her stomach, she huffs out a laugh at how _nervous_ he could make her feel.

“What?” he asks her with a small grin.

“Just…you” she says.

“Am I funny?”

“Hilarious”.

He sends her a look with so much longing and want in it that she has to glance away to catch her breath.

“Impressive party” she says, trying to maintain normal small talk.

“Sure” he says, unable to look away from her.

“Bruce” she says in reproach “you can’t spend all evening gawking at me, you need to attend to your guests”.

“Dance with me” is all he says.

She smiles at him and lets him lead her to where several couples are dancing to a slow sweet song on the dance floor. Bruce sweeps her in and she shivers at the touch of his hand on her waist, his broad shoulder under hers. He presses her closer than is strictly necessary for this type of dancing, but Selina isn’t complaining.

“I’m so glad you came tonight” he says to her lowly, his gaze intense.

She can’t bring herself to look away from him and she feels the anticipation coursing in her veins. Her skin feels sensitive, electric wherever they touched.

“God Selina” he says, pained “what do you do to me?”.

“You tell me” she says, breathless.

“I think you know” he mutters lowly.

Selina looks away and is surprised to find everything normal, groups of people laughing and talking. Other dancers moving past them, servers moving silently through the throngs. She felt for sure that the whole room would have stopped to stare at them. Would have noticed the intensity and electricity that felt on the edge of igniting right in the middle of the room.

“Do you think anyone would notice us if we were gone?” she asks jokingly, turning back to his scorching gaze.

“I was hoping you’d say that” he says, pulling her against him once, hard, before letting go and quickly leading her away from the dance floor, through the crowds.

Selina had been joking but now felt the same sense of urgency that he did, like if she couldn’t get a moment alone with him, she would scream.

“Master Bruce” Alfred begins, stepping in front of them to scold his ward for abandoning his duties as a host, but Bruce cuts him off before he has a chance.

“I don’t want to be disturbed Alfred” he says, semi savagely, ready to pull Selina away. Alfred’s brows shoot up and his eyes go from Bruce to Selina and back.

“Of course, sir” he says before stepping to the side, laughter on his face.

“Bruce” she hisses at his back as he weaves them down hallways “could you be any more obvious?”.

He shoots her a blazing look over his shoulder “I don’t care” he says and Selina shuts up.

They only walk for two minutes before they come up to a door, the sound from the party is far away and the hallways are deserted. Bruce comes to a stop and crowds into her space, his hand cupping her face gently.

“I didn’t mean to be presumptive” he whispers “just say the word and we can go back to the party”.

She looks at his earnest expression and smiles, shaking her head. He leans down and gives her a long kiss; Selina feels it down to her toes. He pulls away and opens the door, leading her into one of the rooms she never had a chance to see when they were younger.

She takes a moment to look around. Impeccably neat walk in wardrobe, bookcase with many well-loved books placed slightly haphazardly. Door leading to what she assumes is an en-suite. She’s sure there’s more to take in but her attention it caught by the big king-sized bed with what looked like very expensive and soft sheets.

Shit, they were _actually_ going to do this.

Selina feels herself tremble a little when he comes up behind her and drops a kiss to her neck.

“Are you cold?” he whispers.

“No, just… nervous” she admits, turning in the circle of his arms to face him.

He smiles at her, “me too”.

All of the hastiness from earlier is gone and he takes his time kissing her. Selina wraps her arms around his neck and pushes herself up and against him. His arms circle her waist and land low on her back. The kiss is sweet- too sweet. Selina presses even harder against him and deepens it, sliding her hands into his hair and tugging hard. He groans into her mouth and runs his hands up her sides, his thumb caressing the exposed strip of skin below her breast. The feel of it makes her weak.

She pulls back and shoves his suit jacket off, her hands caressing his arms over his pristine shirt. He hurriedly undoes his tie and surges back to kiss her, his hands everywhere. Gently caressing her face, sweeping over her hips, grasping her backside. Selina can feel her heart _racing_ as she fumbles to undo his buttons, clenching her thighs hard to get some sort of relief for the ache she feels deep inside. After struggling for a moment, she gives up and just wrenches the two sides of his shirt open, ignoring the small popping noises of buttons hitting and rolling on the floor.

They both stop for a second, breathing heavily. Selina runs her fingers down the front of his chest and stomach, appreciating how hard and strong he felt. He lets out a ragged breath.

“Turn around” he asks.

She obliges and tries to catch her breath as she feels his hands on the back zipper of her dress.

“Is this okay?” he asks quietly and she laughs.

“Yes, of course”.

He slowly eases the zipper down, revealing more and more of her smooth back. Selina unhooks the straps from her arms and gracefully steps out of the dress, dropping it on the floor carelessly before turning to him. She feels nervous. Which is ridiculous. She’d been naked with her fair share of men over the years. But none of them had been _Bruce_. Just standing before him in her new red lingerie had the anticipation in her heightened to new levels. He steps close to her again and lets out a breath, his hand moving to her waist, before gently caressing over the swell of her breast. Selina lets out a sigh and tips her head back, closing her eyes as his lips make their way down her neck. His thumb sweeps over the front of her bra, caressing her nipple and doing it again after she lets out an appreciative moan.

He says her name like a prayer and leads her backwards until they’re tumbling onto the bed. She wraps her legs around his waist while he kisses her bruisingly, gasping when she feels how hard he is pressed against her core. She cants her hips up to get more friction where she needs it and he rasps out a low “fuck” against her neck. She pushes him back for a moment so she can scrabble with his belt and push his stupid suit pants down. A moment later he’s pressed against her again, his hands fumbling with her bra clasp before he gets it off and can stare down at her chest with awe. Normally she’d laugh at him, but the look on his face somehow just makes her wetter. She thrusts up against him again and keens his name loudly as his hips meet hers and he thumbs over her nipple.

“Bruce” she pleads “stop teasing”.

They pause for a moment to quickly scramble the last remaining pieces of fabric separating them and come back together with a gasp. Her body feels like it’s overheating, her heart practically beating out of her chest as his hand finds her and strokes. His thumb slowly circles her clit as she writhes under him, feeling like her body couldn’t handle the overload of pleasure she was feeling. The sensation grew in her and she could hardly breathe as she felt it expand inside her, growing more and more intense as he slid a finger inside her, teasing and stroking her faster.

“Br-Bruce” she stutters out, hands clenched in her own hair as she felt herself come to the edge.

“C’mon baby” he says huskily “cum for me”.

She opens her mouth but no noise comes out as she’s hit with a massive wave of just pure sensation. She whimpers as it washes over her body, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. It takes a few moments for the grip it has on her to be released and she relaxes back into the sheets, her breathing coming heavy. He rolls to the side of her and lets out a happy sigh.

“That was better than I ever imagined” he says dreamily, looking at her.

She takes a second to catch her breath before rolling up to sit on him, making his breath stutter out as her hand firmly wraps around him.

“We’re not _done_ ” she tells him intensely, stroking him slowly. “Where are the condoms?”.

It takes him a moment to open his eyes and focus on what she’s saying, “uh, top drawer I think” he says, semi dazed.

She reaches over and finds some scattered in the drawer, pulling a packet out she holds it up for him to see.

“Are you going to do this, or should I?”

He grabs it from her hand and rips it open “If you do it, I think it’ll be over before it’s even begun” he says with a laugh, concentrating on rolling it down his length.

He looks up at her in wonder and says “Selina are you sure…?”.

She doesn’t bother responding, grabbing him and positioning him right so she can sink down. She’s worried for a moment that she’d genuinely killed him (pictures having to explain to everyone that his heart gave out just from fucking her. Sees the headlines, Bruce Wayne Killed In Flagrante Delicto) before he lets out a choked noise and opens his eyes to look at her.

“You okay?” she asks cheekily.

“Yes” he wheezes out “Just give me a sec. You’re so wet, feel _incredible_ ”.

She wiggles around slightly, adjusting to the feeling of him in her. After a second, he gives a nod and she eases herself up and back down again, making him gasp out her name. Selina works up a rhythm, grateful that her skills for cat burglary transferred so well into the bedroom. He starts thrusting up to meet her which pulls short moans from her throat.

She feels the world tilt for a moment and finds herself on her back, his arms caging her in. He grabs the back of her leg and hoists it up around his hips, changing the angle so he can thrust deeper.

“Fuck” she gasps out, hands trying to find purchase on his back. He picks up the pace and drives into her, his arms tense and corded in concentration.

“C’mon Bruce” she goads, panting “let go, I know you want to”.

“No” he grunts, grabbing her hips and tilting them up, hitting a spot deep in her that has little fireworks of pleasure sparking up her spine. “I want to see you again” he says, using his thumb to rub her clit while he continues to thrust evenly, his self-control evident in every movement.

Selina gasps out his name and scrapes her nails down his back, earning a hiss and forceful thrust from him.

“You can do it baby” he gets out, breathless “give into it for me”.

He can see that she’s _rightthere_ on the edge and aims a particularly hard thrust while simultaneously pressing down on her clit gently. Selina keens and lets out a long litany of “fuck” and “Bruce”. He feels her clench hard around him and has no willpower left to stave off his own release. Slumping forward he presses feverish kisses to her neck while they come down from the high before rolling off her.

They turn and smile at each other, shattered. Selina surprises herself by rolling closer to him, fitting herself down the side of him and resting her head on his chest in satisfaction.

She lets her mind wander and the last thing she remembers before drifting off is him pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.


	7. Runaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys this is a super short update! I start my new job tomorrow and my new trimester of classes for my degree (law/international relations) starts up too so today was busy busy busy! I still wanted to post something though so this is short and (not so) sweet.
> 
> I probably won't be able to update tomorrow but should be back on schedule for daily updates by Tuesday!
> 
> I'm planning the next few chapters, should I go super angsty next before the big make up, or only semi angsty? Let me know what you think!

****  
 _I hate you, I love you_ _  
I hate that I love you  
Don't want to but I can't put  
Nobody else above you_

_****_

  
Selina is torn from her sleep by a consistent knocking at the door.

She goes to move and realises she’s still pressed up against Bruce, his arms tight around her. _Totally naked._ She moves to untangle them and he tightens his hold on her.

“Master Bruce?” comes Alfred’s voice from the door “I know you didn’t want to be disturbed, but the guests are leaving and some are complaining of the lack of your presence”. There is a long pause before Alfred speaks again “I hope you’re in there, I’ve made the same speech at the door of the study, library _and_ conservatory” he says with a resigned sigh.

Selina tamps down a giggle at the thought that he’d assume they’d use one of those rooms rather than Bruce’s actual bedroom.

“Yes, I’m here Alfred” Bruce calls, voice slightly scratchy. He turns and looks at her, the look on his face _so_ sweet and loving that Selina’s stomach turns. “Wait here” he whispers, dropping a sweet kiss to her forehead “I’ll send them all off and be back” he says.

She stares at him as he untangles himself from the sheets and hastily get’s redressed, having to throw on a completely different shirt since his had been destroyed. Selina gets up too and shimmies into her underwear, grabbing for her dress.

“What are you doing?” he asks her.

“I’m going home too” she says simply, shimmying into her dress.

“No” he says, frowning.

She turns to look at him “No?” she says incredulously.

“Stay” he pleads “get back in bed”.

“Bruce” she sighs “this was great. _More_ than great, amazing. But I’m not…” she trails off and tries to not let his sad expression dissuade her “I’m not your girlfriend. I don’t want to stay; I want to go home”.

“Master Bruce?” comes Alfred’s apologetic voice again “I am _terribly_ sorry, but you really are needed”.

Bruce runs his hands through his hair frustrated, “Just stay, for ten minutes, and then I’ll be back and we can talk” he says desperately. Kissing her hard before striding to the door and leaving her there. Again.

She wasn’t a dog; he couldn’t just ask her to stay and then expect her to be there when he got back.

Selina hastily retrieves her purse and prays that her make-up doesn’t scream _‘just fucked my billionaire ex vigilante’._ She knows Bruce and Alfred would play interference if she tried to leave via the front door so instead, she goes to the double doors on the far side of the room, smiling when they open onto a balcony similar to that in the study. She turns back to look at the room for one last time, the beautiful sheets rumpled and pushed down to the end of the bed, buttons scattered everywhere whilst his white shirt lay discarded on the floor. Selina takes a deep breath and turns back around, jumping onto the balcony railing and scrabbling down to her freedom.

_****_

“So…” Alfred says conversationally as they wave the last of the guests off “it seems that you and Miss Kyle have made up?”.

They walk back through the ballroom, evidence of the event all around. Bruce relished the quiet, how he hated parties. He smiled dreamily as he thought about who waited back for him in his room.

“I think so, I hope so. She is… amazing” he sighs, missing Alfred’s eye roll.

“Just be careful sir, one ah…” he coughs and stumbles on his words “positive event won’t fix everything. I think you’ll still need to prove to Miss Kyle that you’re sticking around for good this time”.

“I know” Bruce says seriously “but I’m finally thinking she’ll let me”, he throws Alfred a jubilant grin before heading back to his room.

“Selina!” he says happily as he throws the door open. And is met with silence.

“Selina?” he says again, pushing the bathroom door open and even peering into the dark walk in robe. As though she’d be huddled at the back, hiding from him.

“ _Alfred_!” he calls out in a panic.

“Yes sir?” Alfred says as he comes to the room, assessing the situation.

“Have any of the staff seen Selina? She’s not here. I told her to wait…” he says, pained.

Alfred looks at him sympathetically, and goes to the balcony doors, flung open wide to let the moonlight in. “I think she may have left Master Bruce”.

“Out the window? Bruce asks, stumped.

“It seems so sir”.

Bruce frowns and turns to where he stashes his keys, “I’ll just have to go find her then” he says determinedly, reaching for a set.

Alfred gently places his hand on Bruce’s, stopping the action.

“Not tonight mate” he says quietly.

“Why not?” Bruce asks angrily “I have to talk to her”.

“I think” Alfred says slowly as he bends to pick up Bruce’s ruined shirt “that you have made that young woman cry more than enough in her short life, and that giving her a break wouldn’t be a bad idea”.

Bruce’s face falls as he agrees.

Alfred studies the damage done to the shirt and sighs loudly “I hope this won’t become a habit”.


	8. Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, life is killing me!
> 
> I decided to go the slightly less angsty route but a WARNING for this chapter, Selina gets attacked by a creep and gets slightly hurt, but nothing bad.

_****  
_ _And you're turning away like you hate me  
Do you hate me, do you hate me  
You can take this heart  
Heal it or break it all apart_

_****_

  
Selina sipped the dregs of her martini contemplatively. She’d had sex with Bruce. And then promptly ditched him. Perhaps not her finest moment.

There was a lot to think about.

Which was what she had been doing for the past two hours, and now she was pretty sure she was drunk.

But that wasn’t so bad, drunk Selina only thought about how good the night had been, how right. Sober Selina agonised over what it meant and what she should do now.

Boring. Drunk Selina didn’t care about any of that, she just wanted to keep drinking martinis and think about Bruce naked.

Selina giggles to herself and checks her watch, deciding that getting a cab home would probably be a good idea as it was nearing the wee hours of the morning. She slides off the bar stool and totters a bit, picturing what a mess she looked. Gorgeous expensive dress, bed hair, smeared make-up. Stumbling in her heels.

She makes it out the front of the dingy bar she’d ended up in after bailing on Bruce, needing a drink to soother her nerves. Selina stumbles down a nearby alleyway and leans up against the wall, considering throwing up.

“Hey there pretty, need some help?” comes a voice from behind her, but he doesn’t sound like he really wants to help.

She squints her eyes at him and remembers him in the bar, greasy hair and beady eyes as he’d leered at her. As he was leering at her now.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?” he asks, unironically.

Selina rolls her eyes and tries to totter past him, not in the mood to deal with scumbags.

“Hey!” he says, voice harder as his hand whips out to anchor on her arm “I was talking to you”.

“I don’t want to talk to you” Selina says, slurring slightly.

The grin he gives her isn’t a friendly one and Selina’s instincts are slightly muted by alcohol (which is why she rarely ever had more than two drinks) because when he uses his weight to slam her back into the wall, she’s unable to react fast enough.

Her head throbs from the impact, though it does the job of sobering up.

“Get your fucking paws off of me you animal” she seethes.

He’s unphased by her words and flips out a knife from his pocket, holding it to her ribs.

“You move or make a noise and I will skewer you here and leave you for dead” he says menacingly.

Selina takes a moment to assess the situation, the tip of the knife pressed against her side, his foul breath in her face as he leans in. She takes a breath and moves. Kneeing him in the crotch and trying to spin out of his reach at once. She’s slightly too slow and gets a long cut across the front of her stomach for her efforts, but at least she’s able to trip back onto the main street while he groans on the ground.

Barbara’s face when Selina turns up at her door dishevelled, dirty, mostly concussed and bleeding is one she will never forget.

_****_

Bruce is decidedly _not_ moping ( _see_ , _Alfred?_ ) and fake reading a book to prove how much he’s not moping when he hears raised voices at the front door.

His heart leaps in his chest, imagining a fiery Selina at his door. It doesn’t even matter why she’s angry, just that she’s _there_. Bruce stands up and turns towards the door, hearing her angry stomping heading his way.

What barges through though is not Selina- angry or not- but a _fuming_ Barbara followed by a very harassed Alfred.

“You!” she yells manically before promptly punching Bruce in the face.

Bruce holds his heavily bleeding nose in his hand while Alfred physically restrains Barbara, all the fight leaving her. She still pins Bruce with hatred in her eyes.

“What the _fuck_ Barbara” he yells, wincing.

“It’s all your fault!” she yells, and Bruce is surprised to see tears in her eyes “ever since you returned, she has been a _wreck_ , but this morning? Hoo boy I am drawing a fucking line. Stay away from Selina!”.

“Selina?” Bruce asks, wiping away some blood “this morning? What happened? She bailed out my window hours ago”.

“Yeah and turned up on my doorstep drunk, concussed and bleeding” she spits.

Bruce’s eyes widen and his heart starts hammering, “Bleeding? What? Where? Is she okay? What happened?” he says, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

“Just stay away from Selina” Barbara says tiredly “it took her too long to recover when you left and I refuse to wake up to her crying on my couch anymore. She _never_ gets drunk, hates not being in control, and look at her now. Stay. Away” she cuts him a cold look before turning and leaving, leaving Bruce standing there, a bleeding mess with a pained expression.

_****_

Bruce impatiently knocked at the door, swaying back and forth on his feet, contemplating the pros and cons of just breaking the door down. Before he could shove it in, it swings open to the solemn face of Barbara Lee.

“Oh” is all she says when she sees Bruce, staring at him for a moment before stepping aside and saying “please help auntie Sel”.

“I will” he says gruffly, striding into the building and ignoring the indignant shout of Barbara upon seeing his face.

“I thought I told you-” she begins before Bruce interrupts her.

“Where is she?”

“No! You don’t get to-”

Bruce cuts her a look and grits out “ _where is she?!_ ”.

Barbara glares at him before mutely pointing to a door down the hallway.

Bruce forgets her instantly, focused on the room ahead of him.

He opens the door and takes a moment to just look at her. She’s sprawled carelessly under the sheets, mouth slightly open while she slept. She’s wearing fuzzy pink flannel pyjamas and Bruce can’t help but smile softly at the sight of her. He walks to the side of the bed and gently strokes her hair; she mumbles a little in her sleep but stays under. He lightly pulls the bedsheets off of her and places a hand under her knees and another across her back. He slowly brings her to his chest and stands up.

“Bruce?’ she mumbles drowsily, one eye slightly squinted open.

“Hey you” he says softly.

“Wh-what are you doing?” she asks as he starts heading back down the hallway with her in his arms.

“I’m going to look after you” he says, cutting his eyes to Barbara to make sure she doesn’t try to stop him. She glares at him but stays back as he heads for the door.

“Oh, m’kay” Selina says with a small smile, falling back to sleep.

Alfred opens the back door of the car for him and Bruce very carefully gets in, resting Selina in the crook of his arm so she could continue sleeping.

“Poor mite” Alfred tuts sympathetically before starting the car.

_****_

Selina awoke slowly, feeling groggy.

Her stomach hurts and there’s an ache at the back of her skull. But she’s warm and comfortable.

Full awareness takes a few moments but when she can finally crane her neck around, Selina frowns. Bruce’s bedroom? She could have sworn she had left out that balcony only last night. She sits up and winces, feeling a sharp stinging pain in her abdomen. Pulling the pyjamas she was wearing up (pink flannel? Had she gone to Barbara’s?) Selina stares at the bandage on her stomach, memories of greasy hair and a knife rushing back at her.

The sound of the door opening has her letting go of the fabric in her hands and looking at the intruder.

“You’re awake” Bruce says with a smile, quickly coming to sit on the bed by her side.

“Hi…” she says slowly, unsure.

“You slept for a long time” he tells her.

“Why am I here?” she asks him, confused.

Bruce takes her hand in his and softly rubs his thumb over the back of it “After you left last night, Barbara came here yelling and punching, saying you’d turned up at her place hurt. So, I went there and brought you here so I could look after you” he told her.

“Did you say punching?” Selina says with a frown, noting that his nose looked slightly swollen.

“Yeah, ah, it seems she holds me personally accountable for what happened to you” he pins her with a serious stare “what _did_ happen Selina?” he asks.

She takes a moment and recounts her evening as succinctly as possible, but as she speaks, she can see Bruce getting more and more wound up. By the time she finishes he looks furious.

“Who was he?” he seethes, going to stand up and leave “where is he? I will _kill_ him”.

Selina grabs onto his arm, holding him in place “Bruce stop. Please stay” she pleads.

He takes a look at her face and sighs, the anger draining from him as he raises a hand to stroke her face.

“You really worried me you know” he says.

“I’m sorry” Selina says truthfully.

He moves so that his back is against the bedhead and gathers her carefully in his arms so she can rest against him.

“Sorry that Barbara punched you” Selina says.

“It’s alright, I don’t blame her” Bruce says.

“Why?”

“Well we… you know” Selina can practically hear him blush “and then after you left you got hurt. I don’t know what I did to make you leave, or if it just wasn’t very good and you didn’t know how to tell me” Selina goes to interrupt but he speaks over her “but regardless, if I had done something differently, you would have woken up here this morning with no injuries”.

Selina cranes her neck around so she can look him in the eye “it _was_ good” she insists “and none of this is your fault. Barbara just overreacts”.

She rolls onto her side with a wince and curls up against him, throwing her arm around him. He was right about one thing Selina decided. She shouldn’t have left, should have stayed here and woken up with him like a normal person.

Things would be different now.


	9. Traumatising Alfred

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't update yesterday so here's a second chapter today!
> 
> This is pretty much just pure fluff/smut/messing with Alfred. Pretty much adds zero to the plot, but I thought these two deserved a chapter of just fun.

_****_

_What doesn't kill me makes me want you more  
And it's new  
The shape of your body, it's blue  
The feeling I've got_

_****_

  
“If you keep on frowning like that, you’ll get wrinkles” Selina teases from the window, grinning as she watches Bruce look up from his paper and then do a double take as he takes her in.

“Hi” he says eyes wide “What are you doing here?”.

Selina saunters forward taking off her gloves and then her cowl to let her hair down. “Was out tonight and thought I might run into you, but no such luck”.

She sits on the desk next to him and smiles, “Batman on break?” she tuts “so slovenly”.

Bruce leans back in his seat and gives her a smile; eyes occasionally being drawn in by her costume.

“Unfortunately, I have to be something much scarier tonight, Bruce Wayne, billionaire business owner” he says jokingly.

“And does Mr. Wayne ever take a break?” Selina asks sultrily, stealthily sliding onto his lap and winding her arms around his neck.

“Always for you” Bruce says earnestly, leaning her back against the desk and going in for a kiss.

Selina sighs into the kiss and deepens it, unbuttoning the front of his shirt so that she can slide her hands over his shoulders and bare back. Bruce seems enthralled by her Catwoman suit, hands brushing over the leather on her legs, waist, breasts. Selina eagerly goes for his belt, making him groan.

“Are you sure?” he asks between kisses “what about your stitches?”.

He doesn’t seem that concerned though as he pulls open the zipper on the front of her suit.

“I’ve been leaping across buildings all night without straining a single stitch, I wouldn’t think _that_ highly of your skills” she teases him.

He just huffs a laugh at her while he wriggles out of his pants, eyes dark while watching her shimmy out of her suit. Selina lays her naked form back against the desk, eyes following him as he drops to his knees in front of her.

His eyes catch hers seriously “you have to be quiet, I don’t want to traumatise my staff”.

Selina eagerly obliges and sighs as he kisses the junction of her right thigh. She quickly regrets her promise as soon as his tongue finds her clit and gets to work. She’s worried she’ll make her hand bleed as she grits it between her teeth for some semblance of control.

Bruce is relentless, tongue seemingly everywhere as he slides a finger slowly inside her and begins to stroke. Selina had been anticipating this all evening and was already at the edge thanks to her own heightened arousal. Bruce adds another finger inside her and slowly circles her clit with his tongue, humming in appreciation.

As Selina’s climax crests over her she can’t help letting out a slightly too loud shout of his name, causing Bruce to surge up and kiss her to quieten her.

“I thought I told you to be quiet” he says, not at all upset.

“Sorry” Selina lies, grinning up at him and running her hands through his hair.

She wraps her right leg around his waist, “c’mon” she says as she feels his hardness insistently pressing against her.

“I don’t keep condoms in here” he says sadly.

Selina rolls her eyes “I’m on the pill, c’mon”.

He looks at her for a moment before smirking and guiding himself inside her. They both take a moment to adjust before Bruce is clasping her hips firmly and moving, building up a rhythm and moving her legs up higher for a better angle.

Selina is _just_ about to experience her second (and hopefully not last) orgasm for the evening when a few things happen in quick succession.

The study door opens.

Alfred yells.

Bruce shouts and covers Selina’s naked breasts with his palms.

And finally: Selina laughs.

She moves her head back slightly and can see Alfred’s back turned to her, quickly beating a retreat from the room.

She can hear him muttering as he leaves “-acting like two randy teenagers, going to have to start knocking on every bloody door in my own home”.

She giggles some more and looks at Bruce’s beet red face and then to his hands on her chest.

“Somehow, I don’t think that made it any better for him” she teases.

Bruce groans and moves to pull out of her.

“What are you doing?” she asks, stopping him with her legs wrapped tightly around her waist.

“We can’t continue” Bruce whispers embarrassed.

“Why not?” Selina asks “it’s not like anyone else is going to barge in here now” she says with a laugh.

“I’m mortified” he says, I don’t even know if I can now”.

Selina clenches around him and watches as his eyes shutter closed.

“Are you sure?” she asks sensually, moving against him.

He groans and leans over her again, “you’ll be the end of me” he says as he kisses her.

They aren’t interrupted for the rest of the night.

_****_

Selina has her head buried deeply in the massive fridge, looking for something to eat when she hears a pained pointed cough behind her.

She closes the fridge and turns to look at Alfred.

“Miss Kyle” he says, eyes averted and voice strained.

Selina’s eyes land on a tub of cookies and goes for them, taking a thoughtful bite of one while she looks at him.

“Alright Jeeves?” she asks, trying to keep a straight face.

“Of course, Miss” he says, finally looking at her.

Credit where credit is due, he makes no indication that he’s even aware that all she is wearing is an oversized t-shirt of Bruce’s, most of her legs on show.

“Can I get you anything miss?” he asks.

“Yeah I’m hungry” she says “worked up an appetite” she teases, the laughter clear in her voice.

Alfred looks like he’s contemplating retiring and moving to a remote island as he begins to put together some bacon and eggs for her.

The door opens up behind her and Selina can feel when Bruce enters the room. He comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, kissing her neck softly.

“This looks good on you” he mumbles into her ear, hand smoothing over the cotton fabric at her side.

Selina spins in his arms, smiling at him.

“I don’t know, looked better on your floor” she flirts.

Alfred sighs loudly behind them.

Bruce looks at him as if he hadn’t even noticed the man was in the room, and then blushes.

“Alfred” he says, mortified as he thought about the events of the evening before.

“Master B” Alfred says evenly, pushing Selina’s plate towards her before pinning them both with his serious gaze.

“This may be your house sir, but I swear, you two trollops ever even _think_ about going near my room, wearing less than full head to toe gear. I will quit _and_ burn this house down” Alfred says, badly hiding the smile on his face.

Selina laughs loudly while Bruce looks like he can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.

This was going to be fun.


	10. Happiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much just straight FLUFF
> 
> A little look into moments of their relationship now that they've made up.
> 
> I'm going to start winding down this story now, especially as I've already begun another that will be posted eventually haha!

_****  
I bow down to pray_ _  
I try to make the worst seem better  
Lord, show me the way  
To cut through all his worn out leather  
I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away  
But baby, I just need one good one to stay_

_****_

Barbara sips her glass of wine and watches Selina thoughtfully.

“What?” Selina asks defensively.

“Nothing” Barbara responds “Just… you look happy. No reason for me to punch your boyfriend again then?” she asks semi-hopefully.

“We’re…He’s…” Selina splutters “he isn’t my boyfriend!”.

“Uh huh” Barbara agrees noncommittally, pointedly looking from the hickeys littering Selina’s neck to the vases of flowers scattered around the room- all from Bruce- and finally on the sideboard, the framed polaroid of them back before he’d left.

“How many nights have you slept there this week?” she asks.

“…four” Selina admits with a deep sigh.

Barbara just cocks her eyebrow and haughtily drinks her wine.

“Well I don’t know what we are” Selina says with a frown “he acts like my boyfriend, and he feels like my boyfriend. But he never says anything about it”.

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to initiate it” Barbara says helpfully, before following along with “or maybe he wants to keep it casual so you can both date other people”. Unhelpfully.

Selina is caught off guard and considers it. He had said he loved her all those weeks ago on the roof top. And he was always ecstatic to see her. And the sex was outstanding. He wasn’t acting like someone who wanted to date other people.

“Maybe I should talk to him” she mutters thoughtfully.

****

“I need to talk to you” Selina announces unceremoniously as she finds Bruce in the kitchen eating his lunch.

Alfred’s eyes go from her to Bruce and back, before he hastily escapes the room.

“Huh?” Bruce says, mouth half full of chicken salad.

“So sexy” she teases, caught off guard for a moment.

“Talk? About what?” he prompts after swallowing, looking nervous.

She sits beside him and plucks a piece of chicken from his plate.

“Are you dating anybody else?” she asks him, gaze unwavering.

Bruce fish mouths for a moment- making Selina’s heart go into her throat, thinking he was about to confess to doing so- before stumbling out “No, of course not. Who else would I date?” confused. His eyes go wide as he seems to consider something   
“Are _you_ dating someone else?”

Selina scoffs “as _if_ ”.

“Okay…so?” Bruce asks.

“Are you dating _me_?” she asks him, cheeks pink.

At first, she thinks she’s broken him. He’s just staring at her unblinking without saying anything. Eventually he recovers.

“Ah… do you _want_ me to be dating you?” he asks carefully.

Selina rolls her eyes “Such a cop response”.

Bruce runs his hands through his hair and looks at her, speaking when he realises she won’t give him an answer “I mean, you know how I feel so…”.

“Enlighten me” Selina says, face serious.

Bruce turns to her and grasps her hands “I love you, always have, always will. Simple as that”. He turns back to his food and picks at it, giving her time to process his words.

Selina thinks about it. Hard.

She didn’t think she’d ever truly get over his leaving. But looking at him no longer hurt, and the difference between young Bruce and old Bruce seemed to have disappeared, once again just becoming _her_ Bruce. Plus thinking about not having him in her life anymore? Not having access to his smiles and his terrible humour and _that mouth_. She simply couldn’t comprehend it.

“I guess I wouldn’t hate it if you were dating me” she says with a slow smile.

Bruce grins at her and kisses her cheek, laughing with her as they hear the clear whoop of joy from Alfred, eavesdropping at the door.

_****_

When Bruce comes home one evening from patrol he’s exhausted.

It’s nearing 4am and he’d been running and watching and helping all over Gotham.

Sometimes it overwhelmed him, the never ending _bad_ that happened in the city. It felt like what he was doing wasn’t even making a dent in it.

He changes into some soft cotton pyjama pants in the Batcave, slowly winding his way towards his bedroom where he hoped to crash for several hours.

When he opens the door, he finds his bed is already occupied.

Selina squints her eyes open and sleepily mumbles “you’re home”.

Her clothes are scattered on his floor (which he’s pretty sure she only does because she knows it drives him mad) and she’s wearing a hilarious XL Batman t-shirt she’d bought for $5 in a novelty store. It’s her favourite.

Bruce collapses onto the sheets next to her and sends her a tired smile. Selina wakes up a little more and rolls over, resting her head on his chest so that she can look at his face in the dark.

“Long night?” she asks quietly.

“You could say that” he says tiredly.

“What’s up?” she asks, reading the unhappiness on his face.

He does his best to explain. How much he loved Gotham, but sometimes it just wore him down. And that it feels like he could be out patrolling 24/7 and _still_ nothing would change. How he feels that his parents really died for nothing.

Selina runs her hands over his chest and stomach, lightly scratching his skin because she knew it soothed him.

“What you’re doing matters” she tells him “and your parents would be insanely proud of you”.

Because it’s true.

“They would have liked you” he tells her earnestly.

Selina huffs out a disbelieving laugh, “your street trash turned professional criminal girlfriend? I highly doubt that”.

“They’d see you like I do” he says simply.

Selina feels warm at his words. He always said things that stumped her, so easily expresses how he feels about her. She still struggled.

“You’re not so bad yourself kid” she jokes.

She rolls over so her back is facing him, tugging his arm until he follows and wraps it around her waist, face snuggled into the back of her neck.

Selina lets out a content sigh as she feels his breath slow into sleep.

_****_

Selina is lounging on her couch with Otto watching The Real Housewives of Gotham (her favourite guilty pleasure show) when there is a rather loud **_ka-thunk_** in her courtyard.

Selina grabs one of her knives and opens her back door, not exactly sure what she’s expecting to see. Definitely not anticipating seeing Batman leaning heavily against her fence groaning.

“Bruce?” she calls worriedly.

He takes a step towards her and stumbles. Selina quickly rushes to his side and props him up under his shoulder.

“You’re heavy” she complains as they stumble towards her living room.

“You’re pretty” he responds, dreamily.

She manages to lay him down onto her sofa, scaring Otto away. When she pulls his cowl off, she finds that his eyes are slightly dazed.

“What happened to you?” she asks concerned.

It seems to take all of his concentration to think and answer her seriously.

“Ivy- I ran into Ivy. Nearly got her too, but she sprayed me with some sort of poison. I used an antidote Fox gave me”.

He quietens and just stares at her ceiling with a goofy smile on his face.

Selina sighs and decides to call Alfred just in case, quickly debriefing him on the situation.

“Ah yes Miss, Lucius did say that the antidote was very potent and worked quickly to dispel any poison from Master B’s system. But that since it was highly concentrated, it could have the after affect of essentially making him extremely drunk. Do you need me to come collect him?”.

Selina looks back to Bruce who was now watching Housewives enraptured.

“No, I’m sure I can handle him Alfred, enjoy your evening to yourself”.

“I shall Miss, thank you” he says before calling off.

Selina walks back over to Bruce whose face lights up even more when he sees her.

“You’re back! I couldn’t see you anymore but I could hear you. You have such a pretty voice”.

Selina smiles at him and brushes back his hair and his eyes go back to the tv.

“These ladies are so mean to each other. You’d be great on this show, will you join after we get married?” he asks her eagerly.

Selina chokes out a laugh and doesn’t know how to respond.

“Shall we get you out of this silly suit?” she asks to distract him.

He heaves himself up and wiggles his eyebrows at her suggestively.

“I’m sure you’d like that”.

“As if, you’re basically wasted idiot” she tells him fondly.

Selina heads to her room, finding the pile of clothes she had gradually stolen from Bruce’s place to sleep in herself. She brings back a pair of old faded pyjamas and helps wrangle him into them, discarding his Batsuit bit by bit.

“Do you need anything?” she asks him after wrapping a blanket around him and turning the sound on the tv up.

“Hungry” he tells her, not even looking away from where one of the wives had just ‘accidentally’ spilt red wine all down the front of the other wife. Bruce lets out a dramatic gasp at the sight.

“But that’s _Dolce_! She’ll never get that out” he whispers horrified.

Selina laughs hard whilst frying his grilled cheese sandwich in the pan. Honestly, she could get used to this. Drunk (poisoned) Bruce was freaking hilarious.

When she hands him his plate with the sandwich, he sends her look with so much love in it she doesn’t know whether to tease him or kiss him.

“It’s just a sandwich” she chides him, settling down next to him.

“Yeah but it’s a sandwich _you_ made. This is automatically the world’s greatest sandwich”.

Selina rolls her eyes, secretly pleased.

One of the wives comes on screen wearing a gorgeous black Givenchy [dress](https://www.nordstrom.com/s/givenchy-fringe-embellished-long-sleeve-asymmetrical-minidress/5721842?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FWomen%2FClothing&color=001) that has Bruce letting out what can only be described as an excited squeal.

“You would look _amazing_ in that” he gushes, eyes going from the tv to Selina.

“Thank you” she tells him with a smile.

She was supremely glad he had come to her and she hadn’t missed this.

It doesn’t take long before he starts getting drowsy, leaning against her more and more.

“Alright you” she says, levering herself off the couch “I think it’s past your bedtime”.

Bruce manages to heave himself up, untangling from the blanket.

He happily follows her to her room, face planting onto her bed with a satisfied sigh.

“These sheets smell like you” he tells her.

Selina gets under the sheets, having to do much coaxing to stop him from smelling her sheets and to get into bed.

Finally, he cuddles into her side, whispering out a tired “I love you” before promptly falling asleep.

_****_

In the morning Bruce is mortified and Selina has enough ammunition to tease him for weeks following the _‘incident’_.

She stops after her gifts her a black Givenchy box with a familiar dress inside.


	11. Domestication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have work in the morning so I am posting the next chapter now!
> 
> One more to go.

_****  
_ _Oh, thanks for the high life_ _  
Baby, it's the best, that's a test  
And yes, now I'm here with you and I  
Would like to think that you would stick around  
You know that I'd just die to make you proud_

_****_

Selina is back at her townhouse for once, rustling through her drawers looking for a soft green sweater she loved to wear. Not being able to find it, she decides to wear a long-sleeved black top instead.

Which is also missing.

If Selina didn’t know any better, she’d say she’d been robbed.

But who would take her clothes and leave her TV?

Selina goes through her wardrobe as well, realising how empty it looked. Peeking into her bathroom she notices most of her make-up missing.

Had she…

Christ.

Sitting down heavily on her bed, Selina realises most of her stuff was at Wayne Manor. Secreted away in Bruce’s drawers and walk in robe. Taken piece by piece every time she had slept over, without even really noticing.

She was as good as living with her boyfriend and no one had told her.

_Rude._

Selina leans down to stroke Otto’s soft fur as he rubs against her legs.

“Well baby, I can hardly leave you alone in this half lived in house, can I?”.

She grabs his carrier container and collects his food and bed before coaxing him in. Locking the front door behind her, Selina decides she can figure out how she feels about this at a later date.

“Oh Lord” Alfred says when Selina walks in the front door with Otto “No”.

“No? how can you say that to your adopted grandbaby?” Selina says, playing at being upset.

“Grandbaby?” Alfred says, offended “not _likely_ miss, that’s an animal”.

Bruce walks into the hall and catches a glimpse of Otto in his cage, his face lights up.

“Hi baby” he coos at Otto, taking the cage from Selina to let him out “is he staying here?” he asks excitedly.

“If you don’t mind…” she says, knowing full well she could bring home 20 cats and Bruce wouldn’t blink an eye.

“Of course not!” says Bruce happily.

Alfred looks extremely put out, giving Otto a filthy look. Selina is an adult and does not poke her tongue out at him.

Definitely not.

(A week later she finds Alfred and Otto cuddled up on the couch together and the sight is so sweet that she only mocks him for two days).

_****_

Selina crouches on the ledge of the roof and watches with glee as the police pull up outside the jewellery store she had left many minutes before. Looking into her backpack, Selina double checks that the five necklaces, two sets of earrings and bracelet that she had taken were all there.

She doesn’t hear him come up behind her but his disappointed sigh is loud enough to alert her to his presence. Selina rolls her eyes.

“You’ve got to give them back Selina” Bruce says resignedly.

She stands and turns to him, coyly flashing him a smile and walking closer to him.

“You know I can’t do that, sweetheart” she says.

“You’re stealing Selina, it isn’t right”.

Selina doesn’t bother dignifying that with a response, sliding even closer to him.

“You been busy tonight?” she asks, winding her arms around his neck.

“I’ll be done as soon as you hand that jewellery over” he tells her.

“You’re relentless” she says with a sigh “my client asked for these, and besides you know that jewellery store is more crooked than your poor nose” she teases.

“What’s wrong with my nose?” he asks with a frown, distracted.

“Poor thing has been broken so many times, good thing I like it” she says with a sultry smile.

Bruce makes a pained noise in the back of his throat and kisses her, like she knew he would.

They’d played this game before, and he always let her get away with it.

“I knew you’d see it my way” she says happily, untangling herself and moving towards the edge of the roof.

“It’s the suit” he complains “you know it clouds my logical thinking” he calls after her.

When Bruce gets home later, Selina is waiting for him in his room, still in her catsuit.

She makes it up to him.

_****_

Selina wakes up early, much earlier than they usually did. Her and Bruce normally had late nights and slept well into the morning.

She stretches and rolls to her side, watching at the sun touches on his sleeping face. His arm is flung above his head and his mouth is partly opened.

Selina grins to herself and feels ridiculous, getting goofy over a sleeping man.

“Stop staring at me” he mumbles, opening his eyes to look at her.

“Was checking to see if you were still breathing, figured I’d steal your billions if you’d died”.

He laughs and pulls her down “we’re not married and everything goes to Alfred in my will so fat chance of that”.

“I haven’t made you change your will yet?” she asks with a shocked gasp “Give me another week and we’ll see”.

“Whenever you want” he says, voice suddenly serious.

Selina doesn’t know how to respond and just rolls her eyes, giving his chest a kiss.

“You know that everything I have is yours, always”.

Selina looks at him for a moment, his sleep rumpled hair and the creases on his cheeks from his pillow. His stupidly white teeth.

“I love you” she tells him. Feels it pulled out from her without her consent. Everything of hers was his, too

The smile he gives her is blinding, and Selina is glad that she hadn’t just blurted it out before she was really ready. That she had waited until this quiet moment.

“I love you too” he says, still grinning.

Bruce rolls her onto her back and kisses her all over her face and neck.

For once, everything in her life felt like it had fit together just right.


	12. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end folks!
> 
> Sorry I've finished it on a sort of cliff-hanger, but I couldn't help myself.
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it!
> 
> Thanks for your support.

_****  
_ _The moon, and the stars are nothing without you_ __  
Your touch, your skin, where do I begin?

_****_

Bruce had the best training room.

Yes Selina loved him, but honestly? She’d fake it just for access to this bad boy.

Boxing ring in one corner and a rock climbing wall along one long side of the room. Elaborate ropes course along the ceiling, as well as a plethora of gym equipment scattered about. Sometimes if she was lucky, she’d convince Bruce to spar with her in the ring, but she knew he always held back when they did (Selina’s convinced it’s because he knows he’d still lose and he’s _such_ a sore loser).

Today she’s scrambling along the ropes course, exhilarated because she knows one wrong step would end with several broken bones for her. Not that she would make a wrong step. The thought is still thrilling though. She hears the door open but doesn’t bother glancing his way, knowing he’d be leaning there, enjoying watching her scrabble about.

When she gets to the end, she gracefully clambers down the rock wall where Bruce is awaiting below.

“Always perving on me in here” she teases him.

He shrugs nonplussed “I won’t deny it. It’s your own fault for looking so good, Catwoman” he tells her, kissing her cheek.

“What time will you be home tonight?” she asks him.

She knew Bruce felt bad for leaving most nights, stalking the shadows of the city while she (sometimes) stayed home. But even if Selina wanted him to stop -which she didn’t, Batman was part of him, with that gone he wouldn’t be her Bruce- she would never ask him to.

“Home” Bruce muses, giving her that smile he saved just for her “I like that”.

Selina rolled her eyes; sentimental sap.

“Are you serious though?” he asks her suddenly.

“Serious about what?”

“Do you consider this your home?”

Selina hesitates for a moment; she can clearly see where this conversation is heading and needs a minute to assess her own mind.

“Yes” she admits “anywhere with you is home. And Otto. And Alfred I guess” she says with a weary sigh.

He gives her a sweet but nervous smile “All of your stuff is pretty much here, why not make it official?”.

Selina is quiet. Because she’s happy, because she’s _not_ nervous, because of everything to do with him. Bruce takes it for hesitation though.

“I mean, this old house probably isn’t your style. We can redecorate. Or buy somewhere new if you wanted to. This place is probably not the best for raising kids anyway- Not that we will be! Or won’t be! I mean, we’re not even married yet. Or ever, if you didn’t want to. But if you _did_ , I would, obviously. Jesus Selina will you please say something you’re killing me here”.

He’s worked himself up into a rambling tangle and Selina has to laugh, kissing him hard.

“We can make it official” she simply says, putting him out of his misery.

Bruce attempts to tamp down his grin but fails “we should tell Alfred, he’ll be ecstatic”.

When they do tell Alfred, he gives them a smile and says “Wonderful news Master B, shall I start running all the menus past you Mistress Selina?”.

Selina pulls a face “God no, and if you ever call me Mistress again, I will dump Bruce’s ass and move to Australia”.

She’s joking, but Bruce’s face looks so distraught that Alfred hastily agrees.

It’s not the whoops of joy Bruce had clearly expected, but Alfred bakes them a chocolate cake from scratch and whips out the expensive champagne.

Selina can read between the lines.

_****_

Bruce is _trying_ to concentrate on what Mrs. Chastle is telling him- something about her genius beautiful daughter he thinks- but Selina is across the party flirting with the head of Gotham Bank, stealing his watch _and_ sending Bruce fuck me eyes.

It’s distracting.

“… _and_ she’s only 25 Mr. Wayne, still so young with so many _wonderful_ years before her” Mrs. Chastle says pointedly “is it true you live in that big house all on your own? How terrible”.

Bruce tears his eyes from Selina’s (painfully) and responds easily “Oh no ma’am, I am accompanied by my butler, girlfriend and cantankerous cat. I assure you I am well looked after”.

She seems slightly taken aback and doesn’t know how to respond, trying to figure out how to bring her daughter up again.

“If you’ll excuse me” he tells her politely.

Selina was definitely trying to steal a bracelet from the mayor’s wife and Bruce had to stop her.

“My love” he says as he lands a heavy hand at her waist, squeezing once to warn her off.

“Oh Bruce” Selina says with a tinkling laugh (a red flag, she was deep in her role to steal this thing) “Laurie here was just giving me some _wonderful_ suggestions on how to lighten up that big old house of ours” she says. It sounds polite, but Bruce knows Selina well enough to detect the poison lying underneath.

For some reason Selina loved Wayne Manor. Exactly as it was. He’d had to do some heavy coaxing to even move a bloody chair in the place. She was more protective of it than he.

“You are just darling for giving me Klaus’s information” Selina gushes, grabbing Laurie’s hand in a kind gesture. Subtly slipping the bracelet from it flawlessly. “You _must_ call me for tea sometime” she tells her with a fake smile.

“May I borrow my girlfriend?” Bruce asks with a pained smile.

“Of course” Laurie says, “you two go enjoy yourselves!”.

Bruce leads her away, aiming for a nearby door where there was _hopefully_ no more people Selina could rob. They find themselves in a small sitting room that is thankfully empty.

“Selina” he begins with a disappointed sigh.

“Bruce” she says, copying him.

“You know you’ve got to give them back”

“I know no such thing”

“If you keep on robbing people at these parties, someone will make a connection” he says.

She saunters closer to him, tipping her head back to meet his eyes.

“You worried about me baby?” she asks lowly.

He knows what she’s doing. What she _always_ did. On rooftops around Gotham, at these stupid parties. And he lets her, like usual. Would always let her.

“Always worried about you” he tells her throatily.

Selina gives him a long lingering kiss and Bruce promptly forgets about stupid watches and bracelets. She always made the world around him fade to nothing. When she goes to deepen the kiss, he pulls back a little.

“Selina, not here” he tells her in reproach.

“Prude” she teases him, not serious.

“I _couldn’t_ , not with everybody right there” he tells her, indicating the door separating them from the party.

Selina sends him a sultry look “Meet me at the limo in five minutes” she tells him before disappearing out the door.

“Alfred” Selina calls happily, finding the butler talking to some people he knew toward the front of the house.

“Miss Kyle” he says suspiciously.

“Oh don’t say it like that” she says teasingly “I just wanted to know where you were, this party sucks rocks and I want to make a hasty retreat as soon as I can find Bruce” she says guilelessly as she pockets his car keys.

“I think I saw him speaking to Mrs. Chastle earlier miss, by the flower pots on the other side of the room” he tells her helpfully.

“Cheers old man, catch ya soon” she tells him flippantly.

She’s able to sneak out the side door without being noticed and finds Bruce leaning against their limo with a smile.

“Took your time” he tells her.

She just laughs and drags him in the car behind her.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m dating the richest man in Gotham. Fucking in the backseat of non-limos? Cramped. Look at all this space we have” she jokes as he settles on top of her.

“Lucky me you mean” he tells her seriously.

Selina doesn’t have a response so she just kisses him. Easily getting lost in it.

He hikes her dress up around her waist so she can easily wrap her legs around him, pushing up into him.

“Are we really going to do this in the back of a limo like teenagers?” he asks her.

“Only if you want to” she tells him.

He doesn’t bother responding, pulling her panties to the side so his fingers can find her, stroking slowly. 

Selina revels in the feeling of it. Of this moment, the two of them, their life together.

She knows they were going to be just fine.

When they find Alfred half an hour later, they’re both giggling, their clothes distinctly rumpled. Bruce’s shirt is clearly inside out and Selina’s red lipstick is smeared half across his face.

Alfred shakes his head sadly “Just… don’t say a word” he tells them with a long sigh “I don’t even want to know”.

He refuses to drive the limo again for months.

Spoilsport.

_****_

Selina sinks down deep into the bubbles. It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Bruce (and she guesses, herself now) owned the world’s _biggest_ bathtub. She had livened the place up a bit with bath salts and bubble bath with names _other_ than Extreme Ice and Sport Supreme (men’s toiletries were ridiculous) and now she regularly enjoyed long hot bubble baths after nights out.

She was dead tired. Had helped Bruce on his patrol tonight and could feel the exhaustion in her bones.

He came into the bathroom and gave her a smile.

“Got some room in there?” he asks, undressing quickly.

She pretends to look around the bathtub to see if he’ll fit “I guess so” she says with a sigh.

She moves forward so he can sink down into the water behind her, sighing contentedly as she leans back against his chest. They were both always so busy they didn’t get lots of down time like this together, so she always appreciated it when they did.

“How was the rest of your night?” she asks him.

“Good. After you went home, I had to go deal with some stupid kids trying to rob a homeless man” he says.

“Assholes”

“Yup” he agrees “how about you?”.

“Good too. Got here, had a peanut butter and tuna sandwich-”

“Gross” Bruce interrupts her with a laugh.

“To _you,_ then I came in here for a bath”.

“Sounds nice” he says, nuzzling into the side of her face where it’s resting against him.

“Much better now” she tells him with a yawn.

“Bedtime?”

Selina mumbles out an agreement, levering herself out of the tub. She goes to grab her towel but finds herself horizontal before she gets a chance.

“Bruce!” she chastises as he carries her to bed instead, placing her gently on the sheets.

“I’m tired” he complains “it’s bed time”.

She just laughs at him and pulls him closer so she could wrap herself around him.

“You’re warm” she says appreciatively.

“You’re hot” he teases, earning an indignant huff in return.

“Let’s stay like this forever and never move” she whispers to him.

“Who’d feed us?”

“Alfred, duh”

“I have a feeling he’d resent that”

“You need to pay him more anyway” she tells him cheekily.

“Alfred is probably the best paid butler in _history_ ” he tells her, offended.

“I know I know; I’m only teasing you. You’re so easy to work up” she says with a smile.

“Only by you”

“Whatever you say kid” she tells his sleepily, struggling to force her eyes to stay open.

Bruce doesn’t respond, just watches her as she’s pulled into sleep. He takes a moment to appreciate what he has, a life he never really thought possible. Something only hoped for.

_****_

Selina and Bruce are having a day off together. It’s a Sunday and they’ve both agreed to do as little as is humanely possible.

Thus far: reading on the lounge chairs beside the pool, watching a movie and now; reclining on the sofa in the study. Selina is sitting long ways, chatting on the phone to Barbara while Bruce rubs her feet and enjoys some music.

“You’re doing _what_?” Barbara asks her jealously.

“We’re planning a holiday” Selina repeats with a smile.

“To where? No don’t even tell me I’m too jealous” Barbara says dramatically “No _do_ tell me, I must live vicariously through you”.

Selina laughs at her friend’s antics “Europe”.

“Give me _specifics_ Selina”

“Well I’ve never been obviously. But spoilt rich kid that he is” at this Bruce pouts at her making her poke her tongue out in return “Bruce has been everywhere. So, he suggested Switzerland, Venice, Rome, Paris, London and Brussels. But nothing is set in stone yet, we might go other places”.

“Paris eh?” Barbara says suggestively.

“Yeah?” Selina says, confused.

“Do you think he’ll propose?” Barbara asked, excitement lacing her voice.

Selina’s eyes automatically go to Bruce, who is nodding his head to the music, smiling at her and having no clue as to their conversation.

“No, surely? Shit. Maybe? I hadn’t thought about it until you said that” Selina tells Barbara.

“You’re going to come home the future Mrs. Bruce Wayne” Barbara sing songs happily.

“Whatever” Selina dismisses. If she thought about it too much, she’d just make herself sick in anticipation.

“I’m surprised you’re so chill about leaving Gotham since you never have before” Barbara says, changing track.

“It does make me kinda nervous” Selina replies “I’m excited to travel and explore everything finally. But the thought of it has been making me feel a bit sick” she admits. What could Selina say? Gotham may be a bit of a shithole city, but it was _her_ shithole city.

“You’re not pregnant, are you?” Barbara says with a laugh, a call back to earlier days.

Selina begins to say “ _as if_ ”, but finds that the words get caught in her throat.

“Sel?” Barbara says after she doesn’t respond. But Selina is far too busy doing maths to hear her. 

She shoots up into a sitting position, startling Bruce who asks if she’s alright.

“ _Oh shit_ ” Selina says empathetically while Barbara cackles loudly down the line.

Selina prayed all of Bruce’s training had prepared him for the biggest shock of his life.

Things were certainly about to change.

THE END


End file.
